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Elon: tariffs are up to Trump
Elon Musk preempted what will likely be lots of questions about President Trump’s policy on tariffs and the trade war with China, by shifting the conversation. We’re not sure if those analysts will listen though.
“Undoubtedly, I’m going to get a lot of questions about tariffs, and I just want to emphasize that this tariff decision is entirely up to the president of the United States,” Musk said. “I will weigh in with my advice with the President, and he will listen to my advice, but then it’s up to him, of course, to make his decision. I’ve been on the record many times saying that I believe lower tariffs are generally a good idea for prosperity, but this decision is fundamentally up to the elected representative of the people.”
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Elon sounds a bit tired
Elon normally comes to these calls with a bit more chipperness, but his tone was a bit down beat as the call started. Perhaps, he is feeling the pressure of his own decision to step up to try to govern the country. His speech was less clear than usual, and he stopped a few times to sigh.
But once he stopped talking about tariffs and DOGE, his energy popped a bit as he turned to talk about future plans for Tesla. Speaking of tariffs …
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Elon doubles down on DOGE and conspiracy theories
Elon Musk used the first few minutes of Tesla’s earnings call to defend his actions with DOGE saying “the work that we’re doing there is actually very important” and “the DOGE team has made a lot of progress in addressing waste and fraud.”
Check out the full story here.He then accused all of the protesters – thousands across the globe – of being paid to do so without providing any evidence. He said the protesters are “protesting because they’re receiving fraudulent money, or the recipients of waste.”
Musk said that starting next month, he’d be allocating more of his time at Tesla “now that the major work of government efficiency is done.”
He later appeared to contradict himself, stating he would stay involved at least through the rest of Trump’s term to ensure “that the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back.”
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Here we go
Okay, the call is starting. Musk, Tesla’s CFO Vaibhav Taneja, and “a number of other executives’ are on the call.
“Well, it’s never a dull moment,” Musk begins.
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Watch Tesla earnings with TechCrunch
We’ll be watching and updating this live blog so you don’t have to, but just in case you want to hear from management directly, we’re streaming it below. The call should be starting any minute now, but Elon does like to make us wait.
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Let’s talk about those regulatory credits
Sean already mentioned this, but I have to HIGHLIGHT IT. Tesla generated $595 million in zero-emissions regulatory credits in the first quarter. While that is higher than in Q1 2024, Tesla has brought in bucket loads of revenue from regulatory credits in the second, third, and fourth quarters of 2024. In Q2, it was $692 million, $739 million in Q3, and a whopping $890 million in Q4.
In years past, those credits augmented already stellar profits. In this quarter, at least, they prevented Tesla from showing a loss in net income.
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Ouch, that operating margin
Last quarter, I brought up the fact that Tesla’s operating margin – which former CFO Zachary Kirkhorn once touted in 2023 as essentially the metric that leadership was “most focused” on – was in serious trouble.
It’s gotten worse. Much worse. Tesla reported an operating margin of just 2.1%, down from the 6.2% in Q4 of 2024, and way, way down from the 16% level it was at when Kirkhorn made those comments.
Tesla says this was a result of selling fewer cars at lower prices, but also because of the billions it is throwing at “AI and other R&D projects.”
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Energy is a bright spot and it’s under threat
Tesla’s energy business stands out as a growth business in an earnings report that otherwise shows stagnation and a retreat — at least in terms of sales. Tesla’s energy business, which includes storage and solar, brought in $2.7 billion in revenue, a 67% increase from the same quarter last year.
Now that’s not nearly as big of a slice as automotive revenue. But it’s actually growing. Tesla’s total automotive revenue, which was $13.96 billion, was down 20% compared to the same period in 2024.
The trade war could threaten that growth.
Tesla said “while the current tariff landscape will have a relatively larger impact on our Energy business compared to automotive, we are taking actions to stabilize the business in the medium to long-term and focus on maintaining its health.”
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New, cheaper models still coming?
Just last week, Reuters reported Tesla has delayed the launch of a mysterious new lower-cost model thought to be a bare-bones Model Y SUV. But in Tesla’s shareholder letter, the company included the same language that’s been used for the last few quarters: “Plans for new vehicles, including more affordable models, remain on track for start of production in the first half of 2025.”
Those two pieces of information are in direct contradiction with each other so here’s hoping this comes up on the conference call later. Until then, read my story from October about Tesla’s (and, really, Elon Musk’s) many flip-flops regarding its plans for a super-cheap EV.
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Tesla stock is Teflon stock — for now
Welp, you’ve seen the numbers. Profits are down. Way down. Uncertainty is palpable due to a trade war. And yet, Tesla stock is up 1.3% in after-hours trading — as of 4:33 p.m. ET. Why?
Perhaps, folks are focused on Tesla’s comments on AI or that it is sticking to its plans for new cheaper models. We’ll be watching to see if the stock budges once the earnings call begins.
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A bigger hit than expected
The numbers are out and Tesla’s sales slump took a huge chunk out of its profit. The company reported a $409 million profit for the first quarter of 2025, down 71% year-over-year.
It also sold $595 million in regulatory credits, meaning without those, it would have slipped back into the red for the first time in years.
The company generated $19.3 billion in revenue during the quarter, which was lower than the $21.4 billion estimate coming from analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance. It’s a double-whammy: Tesla is selling fewer vehicles and it’s selling them for less to stay competitive, which is eating into its profits and industry-leading gross margin -
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‘Company update’
One curious item that close Tesla watchers have noticed ahead of this earnings report is that the company referred to this evening’s conference call as a “live company update,” which is not language it’s really used before.
This has a lot of people guessing about the substance of the call. Will there be some sort of large announcement about the direction of the company? Or Musk’s position atop it?
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Tesla earnings wrap up: Elon Musk talks DOGE, Trump and tariffs, robotaxis, AI, and cheap EVs
Tesla earnings day is here, and boy oh boy, this one could be a doozy. In the past several months, one of the world’s largest EV makers has seen its market share fall. That’s partly because of increased competition in China, Europe, and North America. But it’s also due to CEO Elon Musk’s political alignment with President Trump and his activities under DOGE to slash federal jobs and insert his supporters into positions of power.
People have expressed their opposition to Musk and Trump through the Tesla Takedown protest movement; others have sold their Tesla vehicles and stock. Those actions are beginning to take a toll.
Tesla, and more specifically Musk, have tried to focus the conversation on the future — namely the promise of AI. Will it work? We’ll find out.
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