Tesla sales fall while its stock rallies – what this tells us about perceptions of Elon Musk

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Electric vehicle maker Tesla recently shared the news of disappointing first-quarter results when its earnings report was weaker than most Wall Street analysts had expected. Tesla’s revenue had tumbled 9% and its profit was down 71%.

Typically, this would result in a sharp decline in investor confidence and share prices. Tesla’s share prices have indeed dropped over 40% this year. But after the earnings report, Tesla’s stock rallied when CEO Elon Musk vowed to scale...