Tech Five: Elon Musk announces incentive program, Tesla shares up

In Tesla's attempt to jump start online sales of its Model S feature, CEO Elon Musk offered a deal to encourage owners to convince their friends into buying the electric car. The incentive? $1,000 credit to the Tesla owner, and a $1,000 off the price tag for the friend making the purchase. Considering some models of the car go for more than $100,000, it's a modest incentive — but an incentive, nonetheless.

Let's take a look at the tech stocks to watch Friday:

Tesla (TSLA):The social-referral program comes as the company gears up to release its newest model, the electric Model X, this fall. Musk said during a conference call Thursday that this incentive program will indicate how powerful word of mouth recommendations are, compared to store-based sales. Tesla must increasingly rely on online sales, as some dealer franchise laws barr the automaker from selling directly to customers in certain states.

Facebook (FB): Facebook shares have been sliding since it posted earnings Wednesday that indicated the company has been spending money to make money. Although the company has made a lot of money — a reported a 39% jump in revenue during Q2 — investors were still wary of the 82% increase in spending. Shares were slightly down during Friday morning trading.

Yelp (YELP): Shares of Yelp swung back up to green in pre-market trading Friday since its dramatic 28% fall earlier this week. The online reviews site took a big hit from investors after it reported grim second quarter earnings Tuesday, which included a $1.3 million loss in revenue.

Apple (AAPL): As Apple readies itself for its annual fall event, BuzzFeed reports that the tech giant plans to unveil a new version of the Apple TV in September. This new model will be launched with its own App store, as well as offer a software development kit for app developers. Company shares were slightly down during Friday morning trading.

Microsoft (MSFT): Shares of Microsoft were up Friday morning as the company reported optimistic numbers for its new operating system, Windows 10. Microsoft said on a blog post that, within the first 24 hours, 14 million devices were running Windows 10, with many more upgrades to go as the company rolls out the new system in phases over the next few weeks. Shares were up more than 1% during morning trading.

Follow USA TODAY reporter Trisha Thadani on Twitter @TrishaThadani