Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February.
Tesla disclosed Wednesday the most tangible data point yet showing the impact to its business from the polarizing activities of its chief executive officer and largest shareholder Elon Musk, whose close relationship with President Donald Trump led many on Wall Street to warn about “woes” for the electric vehicle maker.
Key Facts
Tesla said Wednesday morning it delivered 337,000 vehicles during 2025’s first three months, a crucial proxy for how the company performed during the period ahead of Tesla’s earnings report later this month.
Consensus analyst forecasts called for the company to report 408,000 Q1 deliveries, according to FactSet, a 5% increase from the 387,000 deliveries in the same period last year.
But more recent breadcrumbs indicate Tesla is far more likely to report a year-over-year delivery decline: Over the last month, analysts at leading investment banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS all slashed their Q1 delivery forecast to between 351,000 and 375,000, and prediction markets also lean negative, as Kalshi projects the company will disclose 348,000 Q1 deliveries, a close to 10% year-over-year decline.
Down 13% from Q1 2024, this was the worst annual quarterly growth for Tesla since at least 2017 (Tesla’s investor relations website only has quarterly delivery data dating back to 2016).
“This quarter was an example of the damage Musk is causing Tesla,” reacted Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, adding “the more political he gets with DOGE the more the brand suffers, there is no debate.”
Shares of Tesla tanked 6% following the announcement.
Tesla disclosed Wednesday the most tangible data point yet showing the impact to its business from the polarizing activities of its chief executive officer and largest shareholder Elon Musk, whose close relationship with President Donald Trump led many on Wall Street to warn about “woes” for the electric vehicle maker.
Tesla CEO Elon Musk speaks at the Conservative Political Action Conference in February.
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Key Facts
Tesla said Wednesday morning it delivered 337,000 vehicles during 2025’s first three months, a crucial proxy for how the company performed during the period ahead of Tesla’s earnings report later this month.
Consensus analyst forecasts called for the company to report 408,000 Q1 deliveries, according to FactSet, a 5% increase from the 387,000 deliveries in the same period last year.
But more recent breadcrumbs indicate Tesla is far more likely to report a year-over-year delivery decline: Over the last month, analysts at leading investment banks Goldman Sachs, JPMorgan, Morgan Stanley and UBS all slashed their Q1 delivery forecast to between 351,000 and 375,000, and prediction markets also lean negative, as Kalshi projects the company will disclose 348,000 Q1 deliveries, a close to 10% year-over-year decline.
Down 13% from Q1 2024, this was the worst annual quarterly growth for Tesla since at least 2017 (Tesla’s investor relations website only has quarterly delivery data dating back to 2016).
“This quarter was an example of the damage Musk is causing Tesla,” reacted Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, adding “the more political he gets with DOGE the more the brand suffers, there is no debate.”
Shares of Tesla tanked 6% following the announcement.
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Crucial Quote
The weakening of sales follows reports Tesla sales declined dramatically across the world at the start of the year, most notably in the European Union tied to Musk and Trump’s targeting of the bloc and China, where Tesla faces increasingly stiff competition. “We struggle to think of anything analogous in the history of the automotive industry, in which a brand has lost so much value so quickly,” JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman wrote in a March 12 note to clients, referring to the backlash against Musk, who donated $288 million toward Republican causes last year, spurning widespread protests and vandalism of Tesla vehicles nationwide.
Big Number
29%. That’s how much Tesla stock is down since Jan. 2, the date of the company’s last quarterly delivery report, even after Tuesday’s bounce. Musk said Sunday the slide is a “big deal” and is a result of “massive pressure on me, and Tesla I guess, to you know, I don’t know, stop” with his White House role and outspokensupport of right-wing political parties globally. The stock is down more than 40% from its all-time high set in December as investors speculated lax regulation from the Trump administration could help unlock the company’s autonomous driving initiative. Tesla and the broader market have both swung wildly in recent weeks as Trump plans to brandish his most severe tariffs yet Wednesday. Musk is arguably the most powerful person in the Trump administration other than the president, but tariffs are a major headwind for Tesla, as the automaker sources its parts globally and brings in more than half of its revenue abroad.
Chief Critic
“Tesla's softer auto deliveries are emblematic of a company in the transition from an automotive 'pure play' to a highly diversified play on AI and robotics,” explained Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas last week, laying out the case Tesla stock can still surge despite the likely softness in its core electric vehicle business.
Forbes Valuation
Musk is by far the richest person in the world with a $346 billion net worth, according to our latest calculations.
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