All attention was on the Tesla earnings call Tuesday for investors who’ve started to see cracks in the once-powerful stock’s facade.
The report, released after U.S. markets closed Tuesday, showed the electric car maker’s first quarter revenue was its lowest in three years, with the $19.3 billion total down 9% compared to the same time last year. Tesla’s first quarter revenue was last this low in 2022, when Elon Musk’s automotive company brought in $18.8 billion.
While revenue missed expectations, Tesla’s profitability topped expectations during the first quarter: Automotive gross margin for the period, excluding regulatory credits, was 12.5%, according to Reuters, compared with expectations of 11.8%, according to 21 analysts polled by Visible Alpha.
Even before the earnings call, Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, one of Tesla’s most bullish investors, was calling for Musk to leave his government-appointed role and return to being a full-time CEO at Tesla.
“Musk needs to leave the govt, take a step back on DOGE, and get back to being CEO of Tesla full-time in our view,” Ives wrote on X, formerly Twitter, on Sunday.
Here is why some Tesla investors were wary of this afternoon’s report.
Tesla stock dropped 53% from its all-time high set in December, after it shot up following Trump’s victory in the presidential election. Tesla’s stock peaked on Dec. 17, 2024, at $479.86. On April 22, Tesla stock closed at $237.97 per share ahead of the earnings report and was rising in after-hours trading.
“Earlier this month, Tesla disclosed the first three months of 2025 saw its weakest quarter for vehicle deliveries since 2022, as Tesla sales cratered from California to Germany in response to Musk’s polarizing politics,” Forbes wrote.
According to Reuters, Tesla deliveries slid 13% in the January to March period as the company lost its edge to Chinese competitors. Analysts expect the downward trend to continue if Tesla continues to prioritize volume growth over profitability.
Musk’s political actions as a close adviser to U.S. President Donald Trump have damaged the brand in the eyes of some of its biggest acolytes. In the past months, Tesla has faced protests, vandalism, and consumer calls for boycotts due to Musk’s relationship with the president.
Some protesters across the country have reacted with vandalism of Tesla’s and at Tesla dealerships. And some Tesla car owners have placed bumper stickers on their vehicles that proclaim: “I Bought This Before We Knew Elon was Crazy!”
In March, President Trump made a show of supporting Musk by purchasing a vehicle himself.
Trump turned the White House into a showroom for the electric-car maker, which delivered five models to the presidential mansion and parked them along the driveway that winds around the South Lawn.
The Trump Administration has stepped in to help Musk and Tesla weather the storm and boost the company’s sagging stock, raising questions about the ethics of an administration actively working to benefit a business owned by the president’s biggest financial backer.
While Musk, whose business portfolio also includes SpaceX, xAI and Neuralink, has lost a substantial amount of money for the average person in the past few months, he has not been dethroned as the wealthiest person in the world.
According to Bloomberg, Musk’s wealth peaked at $400 billion in late December 2024.
In March, Forbes reported that Musk’s net worth is approximately $330 billion. The most recent Forbes ranking shows Musk’s net worth at $363.1 billion.
USA TODAY contributed to this report.
This article originally appeared on Memphis Commercial Appeal: Tesla first quarter earnings report has revenue down, profitability up
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