Tesla jumps as its investor relations head gets ready to give a company update

• Tesla shares jumped ahead of its investor relations head's presentation at a Morgan Stanley conference on Wednesday afternoon.
• Shares have been under pressure over the past month, ever since CEO Elon Musk said he was looking into taking the electric-car maker private.
• NIO, which has been touted as the Tesla of China, started trading in the US on Wednesday.
• Watch Tesla trade in real time here.

Tesla jumped as much as 4.51% in Wednesday trading, ahead of its investor relations head's presentation at Morgan Stanley conference in Laguna Beach, California.

Tesla investor relations head Martin Viecha is schedule to give a company update at 2:45 p.m. ET at the annual conference.

Shares have been under pressure over the past month, in the wake of CEO Elon Musk's attempt to take the electric-car maker private.

During an interview on Thursday, Musk was filmed smoking a spliff - marijuana mixed with tobacco. Following that, the company said Friday that its chief accountant, Dave Morton, had resigned Tuesday, and that Gaby Toledano, its human-resources chief, was extending a leave of absence.

Musk tweeted on August 7 that he was considering taking Tesla private at $420 a share and had "funding secured." He later reversed course, but his tweets triggered an SEC subpoena and relentless attacks from investors betting against the company.

And while Tesla was considering going private, NIO, which has been touted as the Tesla of China, started trading at in the US on Wednesday.

Tesla shares have lost 19% over the past month, and are down 8% this year.

Now read:

• A Wall Street expert dispels a huge myth about the $5 trillion ETF market - and explains why tech employees are the big winners of the industry's explosion
• Amazon has quietly taken a big and fast-growing stake in a $7 trillion market
• 'They see it the same way they see the VIX and gold': The 25-year-old cofounder of a crypto trading platform explains why billion-dollar hedge funds are getting interested in the market

NOW WATCH: Medical breakthroughs we will see in the next 50 years