Musk buys about $1B in Tesla shares, sparking rally

Elon Musk bought roughly $1 billion of Tesla shares last week, filings show, a move that energized the stock and underscored a growing split between investor enthusiasm and the automaker's weakening vehicle sales. The U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission filing released Monday shows Musk added about 2.57 million Tesla shares on Sept. 12 through a revocable trust, making multiple purchases at prices around $372 to $396 per share. The purchases were Musk's first open market buys since February 2020 and helped spark a multiday surge in Tesla shares.

The disclosure triggered heavy trading and premarket gains, with shares rallying across sessions and trading volumes running above recent averages. Tesla closed at $368.81 on Thursday after a string of daily advances, and intraday moves pushed the stock to its highest levels since February. Market technicians said the stock had cleared a key technical level this month, prompting momentum-driven buying that compounded the effect of the insider purchases.

Musk's purchase came as Tesla pivots to broaden its business beyond electric vehicles. At an event in Las Vegas earlier this week, the company unveiled a next-generation Megapack 3...