Tesla (TSLA) stock shed over 6% on Monday as a big first quarter earnings report looms tomorrow after the bell. Questions surrounding CEO Elon Musk’s return to Tesla’s offices from Washington, D.C., and the status of the company’s upcoming cheaper EV are swirling ahead of the report, with the stock down over 40% year to date.
Tesla’s Q1 report comes with the S&P 500 (^GSPC) threateningly close to bear market territory and the tech-heavy Nasdaq (^IXIC) clearly in it. Trump’s tariff war is fueling broad-based selling and fears of a global economic slowdown. His auto sector tariffs of 25% on foreign imports have automakers like Tesla in a bind.
Read more about Tesla’s stock moves and today’s market action.
Tesla is expected to report Q1 revenue of $21.43 billion, per Bloomberg estimates, just slightly higher than the $21.3 billion reported a year ago. From a profitability standpoint, the Street is expecting adjusted EPS of $0.44, translating to adjusted net income of $1.57 billion, slightly higher than the $1.54 billion posted last year.
The big concern for Tesla’s bread-and-butter auto business is demand. Earlier in April, Tesla reported Q1 deliveries of 336,681 units versus 390,342 estimated, per Bloomberg consensus, making it the worst quarter for deliveries since the second quarter of 2022.
This comes as rival automakers saw huge sales gains as consumers pushed up purchases to avoid tariffs, which began on April 2. Tesla’s main rival overseas, BYD, has been eating into Tesla’s market share for some time now.
Read more: The latest news and updates on Trump’s tariffs
Demand concerns led to falling sales across a number of key regions for Tesla. Earlier in April, Tesla registration data in key European regions fell in March, another sign that sales are continuing to slide as Tesla’s brand has also taken a hit due to the right-wing political activities of CEO Elon Musk.
Musk’s closeness to President Trump and embrace of right-wing politicians in Europe has seen Musk — and Tesla’s brand — suffer. Protests both in the US and abroad at Tesla showrooms are growing, as are acts of vandalism on Tesla EVs.
“Musk needs to leave the government, take a major step back on DOGE, and get back to being CEO of Tesla full-time,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives wrote in a report to clients on Sunday, calling it a “Code Red situation.”
Ives added: “Anyone that thinks the brand damage Musk has inflicted is not a real thing, spend some time speaking to car buyers in the US, Europe, and Asia. You will think differently after those discussions.”
Ives maintained his Tesla Outperform rating but dropped his price target to $315 from $550, a nearly 43% haircut.
Tesla’s stock did pop around the time deliveries were released after a report from Politico said Musk was set to pare back his duties in the Trump administration “in the coming weeks.”
Investors are also keen to hear more about the development of a long-awaited cheaper EV, which the company has been teasing for over a year. Tesla promised to launch a lower-priced EV in the first half of 2025, along with other new vehicles the company said would allow it to return to a 50% growth rate compared to 2023.
Reuters reported on Friday that Tesla’s plans to launch an affordable EV — which include a stripped-down version of the Model Y — have been delayed until later this year. Tesla has not responded to that report.
More details on Tesla’s robotaxi and self-driving trials are also on the list of action items for Tesla management. Tesla received an initial permit to begin ride-hailing in California, and the company is testing rides with employees in Austin, Texas.
Tesla’s rough ride is still front and center for investors. Musk acknowledged the pain earlier this month.
“My Tesla stock and the stock of everyone who holds Tesla has gone roughly in half,” Musk said at a Wisconsin rally for a Trump-backed judge running in the state’s Supreme Court election. “This is a very expensive job, is what I’m saying, and you’re welcome.”
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
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