Tesla Q1 earnings show major losses for Musk amid Trump administration stint

Tesla reported a massive drop in first-quarter earnings Tuesday — but investors appeared to take heart that the company did not initially report that CEO Elon Musk’s role at the company would be changing.

The electric automaker — which is increasingly trying to diversify into high-tech products like robots — said profits fell 71% to $409 million compared to $1.39 billion during the same quarter one year ago.

Yet shares of Tesla were little changed in after-hours trading, as investors appeared to have been bracing for an even more dramatic report discussing Musk’s future with the company. The company has lost 50% of its value from its mid-December peak.

The company said “uncertainty in the automotive and energy markets” associated with “rapidly evolving trade policy,” along with “changing political sentiment,” could have “a meaningful impact on demand for our products in the near-term.”

It also said updates to its best-selling Model Y that affected its availability on the market contributed to the shortfall.

“We remain committed to expanding our business model to include delivering autonomous robots across multiple form factors and use cases – powered by our real-world AI expertise – to our customers and for use in our factories, as we navigate these headwinds,” it said.

It said it was not prepared to provide guidance for performance the rest of the year — a decision other companies are also making — due to broad trends including the impact from tariffs. It said it would “revisit” guidance for 2025 in three months.

“It is difficult to measure the impacts of shifting global trade policy on the automotive and energy supply chains, our cost structure and demand for durable goods and related services,” the company said in the outlook section of its report.

The earnings report comes as Musk faces pressure from many sides, including from investors who’d like him to pay more attention to the company and from his job in the Trump administration where he’s volunteered to slash government programs.

Musk has kept his CEO roles at Tesla and SpaceX even while spending much of his time with President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), the group charged with reducing federal spending. 

The earnings report did not explicitly mention the repeated vandalism against Tesla vehicles or the peaceful protests at its showrooms, instead citing the “changing political sentiment” as a headwind for demand.

A key question for Tesla, Musk and the Trump administration is how long Musk remains in his White House position. His job as a “special government employee” is time-limited by law to 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days, which could put his legally mandated endpoint as early as late May. Musk told Fox News this month that he believed “most” of his work would be done by that deadline. 

A conference call with Wall Street analysts was scheduled for 2:30 p.m. ET. Musk sometimes joins such calls, but not always. 

This is a developing story. Check back for updates.