Tesla (TSLA -0.21%) gave investors a few reasons to be bullish last week. News broke on Thursday that CEO Elon Musk had hired someone to take over his position as CEO at privately held social network Twitter. The move will likely free up more of Musk's time, which was already split between Tesla, SpaceX, Twitter, and some smaller ventures like The Boring Company. Then, on Friday, the electric-car maker boosted the prices of some of its Tesla models in the U.S. -- a move that implies demand may be robust.
Let's take a closer look at both of these stories to see why they could be a good sign for Tesla shareholders.
Elon Musk to step down from his role as CEO of Twitter
Since April of last year, when Elon Musk announced his intent to buy Twitter, the company has largely been viewed by Tesla shareholders as a distraction. Not only was the transaction itself, which didn't occur until October of last year, quite an ordeal but Musk's decision to become CEO of the social media company after he acquired it meant he'd have less time to work at for Tesla.
So it was no surprise that when Musk announced on Thursday that he was finally going to step down from Twitter in a few months that Tesla shares jumped.
Musk said on Thursday that he'd hired a new CEO for Twitter, which will start in six weeks. In addition, he said he will transition out of the role to executive chairman and chief technology officer. On Friday, Musk confirmed rumors that the person taking the helm at Twitter is NBCUniversal's advertising chief Linda Yaccarino.
"Obviously, bringing on Linda allows me to devote more time to Tesla," Musk tweeted Friday afternoon, "which is exactly what I will be doing!"
Musk has been vital to Tesla's vision and growth over the years, so most investors would likely consider it positive news for the Tesla CEO to have more time and energy for the electric-car maker.
Tesla boosted prices for some models
In other bullish news for shareholders, the company rolled out some modest price hikes on its Model S, X, and Y vehicles last week. Prices for the company's flagship Model S and X both increased by $1,000 and the Model Y saw its price rise by $250.
While these aren't big enough price increases to suggest that demand has picked up significantly, it at least contrasts with the big price cuts Tesla rolled out earlier this year. The news at least suggests that demand trends likely aren't deteriorating.
Still, investors should note that Tesla vehicle prices are down significantly from where they started the year. The long-range version of Model Y, which is likely Tesla's best-selling vehicle in the U.S., is still priced more than 20% cheaper than where it started the year.
While neither of these stories is enough to make Tesla stock a strong buy, they definitely provide some reasons to be incrementally more optimistic about the company.
