During a Tesla earnings call on April 22nd Elon Musk made it clear that once May arrives he will be taking a step back from his role in the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE). Musk told investors that his goal is to be "doing DOGE things" only 1-2 days a week. He will be stepping back from his highly controversial role in the administration to focus back on his own business ventures, such as Tesla, which has seen massive hits to their profits and sales ever since President Trump came into office.
Many are saying that his role in DOGE is a large reason that Tesla has not been so successful, Musk made clear that regardless of how his business is doing people need to look into the far future. While Tesla is less prone to tariffs when compared to their automotive competitors due to having lots of factories in the United States they are still struggling. In April, Tesla reported that it had suffered the largest drop in sales in their history delivering 50,000 fewer vehicles in Q1 of 2025 than Q1 of 2024. This is also being seen in Tesla stock. After election day their stock nearly doubled, reaching an all time high in December, with investors believing in the Trump administration possibly implementing Tesla-friendly policies. At this point, Tesla stock (TSLA) has fallen nearly 50% from that high as of April 23rd.
This negative performance by Tesla does not seem to have much to do with their actual operations, but instead the man who is behind it all. There have been numerous protests being directed in both Trump and Musk's way that are completely against everything they have done so far. Many people are starting to not buy Tesla's products due to Musk being the face of the company. It will be interesting to see how this will impact Tesla's long-term gains and whether these losses will keep happening with the role Musk has played in DOGE so far.
Link to Article: https://www.cnn.com/2025/04/22/business/tesla-reports-disappoint-drop-in-revenue-and-profits/index.html
4 comments:
This article highlights how closely Tesla’s performance is tied to Elon Musk’s public image and political involvement. It’s striking that despite Tesla's domestic production advantage, the company is still suffering due to Musk’s controversial role in the Trump administration. His decision to step back from DOGE might help Tesla recover, but the damage to brand perception shows how personal politics can seriously impact corporate success.
I think it is interesting how much more Trump is willing to risk the markets crashing then he was last term, and whether Musk is willing to do the same. Perhaps not, considering he stepped back from DOGE slightly, but considering he promoted tarrifs which directly hurt his company, it is hard to tell.
I wonder if Musk knew he might take a hit for working closely with president Trump. When you work with someone who’s highly controversial, suddenly you have about 50% of the United States against you.
Maybe he’ll be able to right the ship, but my guess would be Tesla is going to be down for a while.
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