Elon Musk raises hopes for a Tesla stock buyback with a one-word tweet

• Elon Musk fueled speculation that Tesla could soon announce its first-ever stock buyback. 
• Responding to a tweet from a top Tesla investor who said only a buyback or a doubling in profit could break the stock’s slump, Musk said “Noted.”
• Leo KoGuan, who says he is the third largest individual Tesla shareholder, has previously called for a buyback of $5 billion this year and $10 billion next year.

Elon Musk added further fuel to speculation that Tesla could buyback stock for the first time.

On October 3, Leo KoGuan — who claims to be the EV maker’s third-largest individual shareholder — tweeted, “Tesla is having PE ratio compression that can be solved only by buyback and/or by 2x earnings increase.”

On Thursday, Musk replied “Noted.”

KoGuan previously called for a repurchase when shares were falling in May. At the time, he said Tesla should announce plans for a $5 billion buyback this year and a $10 billion buyback next year.

On Friday, Tesla stock was down 6{5be0972a10a00bb621c1a18de1a801d58662e556d02921cebb422beac5e5b2fe} at $207.84 and has tumbled more than 40{5be0972a10a00bb621c1a18de1a801d58662e556d02921cebb422beac5e5b2fe} this year amid aggressive interest rate increases from the Federal Reserve, fears of a recession, and Musk’s Twitter takeover bid, which would involve his Tesla shares.

He is currently facing headwinds from his pursuit of Twitter, which said in a regulatory filing Thursday that Musk is being investigated by federal authorities for actions related to his bid.

A Delaware judge has also given him until October 28 to finalize the deal or go to trial with the social media company and face a potential breakup fee. Reports have also surfaced in recent days that Musk is at risk of losing his financing for the deal. 

Meanwhile, Tesla is set to report third-quarter earnings on October 19.