NEW YORK– Shares of Tesla soared on Wednesday as investors bet the electric vehicle maker and its CEO Elon Musk will benefit from Donald Trump’s return to the White House.

Tesla is poised to make significant gains under the Trump administration, with reduced subsidies for alternative energy and electric vehicles likely to hurt smaller competitors the most. Trump’s plans for expanded tariffs on Chinese imports make it less likely that Chinese electric vehicles will be sold in bulk in the US anytime soon.

“Tesla has a scale and scope that is unparalleled,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to investors. “This dynamic could give Musk and Tesla a clear competitive advantage in a non-EV subsidy environment, coupled with likely higher Chinese tariffs that would continue to drive out cheaper Chinese EV players.”

Shares of Tesla rose more than 14% on Wednesday, while shares of rival electric vehicle makers tumbled. Shanghai-based Nio fell 5%. Shares of electric truck maker Rivian fell 9% and Lucid Group fell almost 8%.

Tesla dominates electric vehicle sales in the US, with a 48.9% market share through mid-2024, according to the Energy Information Administration.

Clean energy subsidies are part of the Inflation Reduction Act, which was signed into law by President Joe Biden in 2022. This included tax credits for manufacturing, along with tax credits for electric vehicle consumers.

Musk was one of Trump’s biggest donors, spending at least $119 million to mobilize Trump’s supporters to support the Republican candidate. He also promised to give away $1 million a day to voters who signed a petition for his political action committee.

In some ways it was a difficult year for Tesla, with sales and profits falling in the first half of the year. Profits rose by 17.3% in the third quarter.

The US has opened an investigation into the company’s “Full Self-Driving” system after reports of low-visibility accidents, including one that left a pedestrian dead. The investigation covers approximately 2.4 million Teslas from model years 2016 to 2024.

And investors sent company shares tumbling last month after Tesla unveiled its long-awaited robotaxi at a Hollywood studio on Thursday evening, not seeing much progress from Tesla in autonomous vehicles while other companies made notable progress.

Tesla started selling the software, which is called “Full Self-Driving,” nine years ago. But there are doubts about its reliability.

The stock is now showing a 16% gain for the year after rising over the past two days.