Tesla Stock Rises After Tuesday Selloff

The move came in the wake of Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk's successful bid to buy Twitter Inc. for $44 billion. Roughly $60 billion of Mr. Musk's Tesla stock, about a third of his holdings, is collateral for bank loans in the deal. Mr. Musk also needs $21 billion in cash, which could mean selling some of his Tesla holdings, to close the deal.

Tesla investors could also be signaling concern that Mr. Musk may be stretching into too many businesses to be focused on each one. For more than a dozen years, he has led Tesla and rocket-and-satellite company Space Exploration Technologies Corp. in addition to launching startups on the side.

Early Wednesday, SpaceX successfully launched four astronauts toward the International Space Station, the fifth time that the company has done so for the National Aeronautics and Space Administration.

Also putting pressure on Tesla shares Tuesday was increased competition from Ford Motor Co. The auto maker's first all-electric F-150 pickup truck began rolling off the assembly line Tuesday, marking a major step in Ford's move toward electrification.

Tesla stock rebounded almost 3% to $899.75 a share in premarket trading Wednesday. The stock is down about 17% so far this year.

Write to Will Feuer at Will.Feuer@wsj.com