Tesla CEO Elon Musk is facing a corporate reckoning on Tuesday, with the electric car maker’s first-quarter results showing that sales and profit fell short of analyst expectations while the billionaire was focused on leading the Trump administration’s cost-cutting initiatives.
Ahead of the quarterly report, investors submitted questions to Tesla, hoping to have them answered during the company’s earnings conference call. Elon Musk himself has been a hot topic among investors, with dozens questioning his focus on the Trump administration’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, and when he might return his attention to running Tesla.
“Can Elon please provide some reassurance that at some point soon he will be done with DOGE and politics?” asked one of the shareholders. “Many Tesla shareholders wish he would reprioritize the majority of his time and effort to engineering.”
That is a question that Wall Street wants answered. Tesla’s stock price has fallen 53% since its all-time high in December, when the stock was pushed higher following President Trump’s election victory on the belief that Musk’s role advising Mr. Trump would benefit the EV maker’s bottom line.
However, Musk’s actions with DOGE, such as laying off tens of thousands of federal employees and gaining access to taxpayer personal data, have alienated some customers and sparked protests around the world, causing the stock price to plummet.
Investors received an answer on Tuesday afternoon, when Musk announced on a call to discuss the company’s earnings that he plans to reduce his time spent on DOGE starting next month.
“Starting probably in next month, in May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly,” Musk told reporters.
However, Musk stated that he intends to continue his involvement with DOGE throughout Mr. Trump’s term, estimating that he will spend one to two days per week on government issues going forward. “Starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla,” said the inventor.
Musk also defended his work on DOGE, claiming that he needed to “fight waste and fraud and try to get the country back on track.”
Tariff impact
The company warned that “trade policy” and “changing political sentiment” could affect demand for its products in the near future. Mr. Trump’s tariffs are expected to raise prices for many vehicles, including Teslas.
Musk also stated that while he would like to see lower tariffs, the decision is ultimately up to Mr. Trump. “I’m advocating for lower tariffs, not higher tariffs, but that’s all I can do,” the Tesla CEO said during the earnings call.
The company’s first-quarter results were “grim,” equity analyst Adam Crisafulli of Vital Knowledge wrote in an investor note. [E]xpectations were extremely low, but these are still unacceptable figures.”
Tesla’s transformation into a symbol of the Trump administration has dampened demand, and it is possible that demand will fall by 15% to 20% due to consumers who do not want to be associated with the billionaire, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives.
“Musk needs to leave the government, take a major step back on DOGE, and get back to being CEO of Tesla full-time,” according to Ives.
What time is the Tesla earnings call?
Tesla’s earnings fell short of analyst estimates. The company reported a per-share profit of 27 cents, compared to an average forecast of 41 cents per share by FactSet analysts.
Nett income fell 71% to $409 million, compared to $1.39 billion the year before. Sales fell 9% to $19.3 billion, well below analysts’ expectations of $21.3 billion.
Tesla shares, which have fallen 41% this year, remained largely unchanged in after-hours trading.
Tesla reported a nearly 13% drop in vehicle deliveries in the first three months of 2025 due to weak demand for its electric cars. Deliveries also fell short of analyst expectations.
Crisafulli believes Tesla supporters will be most interested in the company’s plans to begin testing its Robotaxi and a humanoid robot called Optimus later this year, as well as the start of production of a lower-cost vehicle in the coming months.
However, more pessimistic observers will conclude “there’s no reason to think things are about to get a lot better” at Tesla, he said, noting that its Robotaxi service lags far behind Alphabet’s Waymo self-driving vehicle rollout.
According to this viewpoint, “Musk’s personal brand has been permanently tarnished by his political activities in the last several months, and leaving DOGE will not change that.” On top of that, the stock remains extremely expensive,” Crisafulli stated.
In addition to learning about Musk’s role at Tesla, investors will be looking for updates on several strategic initiatives. Later this year, the company plans to introduce a lower-cost version of its best-selling vehicle, the Model Y SUV. Tesla has also announced plans to launch a paid driverless robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, in June.