January 3, 2025 at 7:00 AM ©Tesla After endless hype, similarly endless delays and one cringeworthy incident involving a broken window, Tesla finally began delivering its love-it-or-hate-it Cybertruck on Nov. 30, 2023. The event was a watershed moment for Tesla, which finally entered the electric truck market after initially vowing to pioneer it with a planned delivery of the Cybertruck in 2021. It was also the start of a wild up, down, then up again ride for the company’s stock, which emerged as one of Wall Street’s biggest winners of the year. A Rough Ride for a Rugged Truck Tesla was trading at around $250 at the close of December 2023, but soon, the Cybertruck launch no longer dominated Tesla-themed headlines. According to CNBC, the company endured a string of ugly, double-digit-percentage losses in the opening days of 2024 as Tesla missed revenue and earnings expectations and had to temper shareholder expectations by warning of an imminent slowdown in volume growth. An investor who plunked down $1,000 just a few weeks prior, on Nov. 29, 2023, would have watched helplessly as four figures became three. Tesla cratered from $250 at the end of December 2023 to less than $150 in April 2024. It didn’t help that, by that point, the bad news was piling up for the Cybertruck, whose owners were reporting not just sideways glances on the highway but also issues with everything from the accelerator pedal and brake lights to body rusting and software glitches. By October, Tesla issued its fifth Cybertruck recall in less than a year. On Oct. 11, 2024, Tesla was trading at just under $218, up from its January low but still a loss for the pre-launch $1,000 investor. However, better days were less than one month — and one election — away. A Post-Election Rally for the Stock On Nov. 4, 2024, Tesla shares closed at $242.84 — just below their price on the pre-launch start date of Nov. 30, 2023, when Tesla closed just above $244. Two days later, however, Tesla closed at just under $289. By Nov. 8, it was up to over $321. By Nov. 11, it hit $350. So what happened in that time to change Tesla’s fortunes? Well, it had nothing to do with the Cybertruck. By the time America voted on Nov. 5, Elon Musk was more synonymous with President-elect Donald Trump than just about anyone other than the incoming president himself. Musk emerged as a top donor, vocal surrogate and, most importantly, a corporate boss who had secured insider status with a friendly administration. Tesla didn’t benefit from the post-election market rally — it led it. According to Forbes, shareholders earned 39% in less than two weeks as Tesla’s market cap topped $1 trillion and Musk’s personal wealth topped a record $300 billion. Tesla closed at $403.84 on Dec. 31, 2024, marking a gain of nearly 63% for the year. That makes Tesla one of the year’s biggest success stories because of — or perhaps in spite of — the Cybertruck. Editor’s note on political coverage: GOBankingRates is nonpartisan and strives to cover all aspects of the economy objectively and present balanced reports on politically focused finance stories. You can find more coverage of this topic on GOBankingRates.com. More From GOBankingRates