02:44 PM EDT, 05/01/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Tesla's (TSLA) leadership crisis appears to have passed following Elon Musk's renewed focus on the company, and he is likely to remain CEO for at least another five years, Wedbush Securities said.

The investment firm was responding to a Wall Street Journal report that said Tesla's board began exploring CEO replacement options in March as internal tensions mounted over Musk's political ties and time away from the company. According to the report, the board even engaged a search firm to begin identifying potential successors.

Wedbush said in a Wednesday note that the situation had become increasingly volatile, with some board members urging Musk to publicly recommit to Tesla. Musk did so on Tesla's Q1 earnings call, saying he would step back from his involvement in the political sphere and spend more time on the company's operations.

"We believe Musk clearly did the right thing," Wedbush said. "We would be surprised if the board was still heading down this search path as of today."

Wedbush also said Musk's more focused tone on the recent call suggested that the board played a greater role than previously thought in shaping the message. The firm described the behind-the-scenes dynamics as "a game of high-stakes poker" between Musk and the board, which ultimately led to a resolution in favor of shareholders.

While the WSJ report reignited concerns over Tesla's leadership, Wedbush said the issue now seems to be in the past, and it expects Musk to lead Tesla through its next phase, focused on autonomy and robotics.

Wedbush reaffirmed its outperform rating for Tesla and maintained a $350 price target.

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