32m ago 05.21 EDT Johana Bhuiyan Analysts attribute Tesla’s overall difficulties to a number of factors, but ultimately conclude Musk’s role in the White House has caused a branding crisis for Tesla. The company is at a major crossroads, analysts say, that will only be remedied if Musk leaves his role in Doge and returns to Tesla as CEO full-time. In addition to a drop in sales, a 50% dip in share prices, existing Tesla owners are looking to sell their vehicles in droves, Teslas have been vandalized across the country and in response to ongoing protests of the automaker, the Vancouver International Auto show removed the electronic carmaker from its March lineup. The company also recalled 46,000 Cybertrucks – nearly all that had been sold. View image in fullscreen Demonstrators protest against Elon Musk and the so-called “department of government efficiency” (Doge) outside a Tesla dealership in Kansas City, earlier this month. Photograph: Charlie Riedel/AP Musk said that the drop in demand is due to the macro economic trends – not branding. “Tesla is not immune to the macro demand for cars,” Musk said. “When there is economic uncertainty, people generally want to pause on doing a major capital purchase like a car. Absent macro issues we don’t see any reduction in demand.” Analysts are not convinced. “If Musk leaves the White House there will be permanent brand damage … but Tesla will have its most important asset and strategic thinker back as full-time CEO to drive the vision and the long term story will not be altered,” read a Wedbush Securities analyst note. Wedbush remained bullish on the company’s chances of turning its financials around. “IF Musk chooses to stay with the Trump White House it could change the future of Tesla/brand damage will grow.” The company declined to provide forward-looking guidance for the next quarter citing “shifting global trade policy on the automotive and energy supply chains”. “While we are making prudent investments that will set up both our vehicle and energy businesses for growth, the rate of growth this year will depend on a variety of factors, including the rate of acceleration of our autonomy efforts, production ramp at our factories and the broader macroeconomic environment,” the earnings report reads. “We will revisit our 2025 guidance in our Q2 update.” The company did warn, however, that “changing political sentiment” could meaningfully impact short-term demand for Tesla products. Share 51m ago 05.03 EDT Johana Bhuiyan Though Elon Musk has acknowledged there have been “rocky moments” of late, he remained optimistic about Tesla’s future. “The future for Tesla is better than ever,” he said. “The value of the company is delivering sustainable abundance with our affordable AI-powered robots. If you say, what’s the ideal future that you can imagine, that’s what you’d want. You’d want abundance for all in a way that’s sustainable, that’s good for the environment. Basically this is a happy future, this is the happiest future you can imagine.” That “happy future” includes the company’s plans for fully self-driving cars, said the billionaire CEO as he laid out an ambitious timeline for when he expects the vehicles to hit US roads in some cities – “by the end of the year”. Tesla has historically struggled to meet timelines Musk has publicly set for the launch of new products, especially when it comes to self-driving. “The acid test is, can you go to sleep in your car and wake up in your destination and I’m confident that will be available in many cities in the US by the end of this year,” he said. This would be on top of the Robotaxi service the company plans to roll out in June. “I predict that there will be millions of Teslas operating fully autonomously in the second half of next year,” Musk said. Despite missing Wall Street expectations on the top and bottom line, initial analyst reactions are optimistic given many had significantly lowered their expectations after the company reported a massive dip in vehicle deliveries. “Against the backdrop of catastrophic expectations, with everything from sales to margins projected to continue the slump, the less-than-bad numbers have been received as welcome news by Tesla investors,” said Thomas Monteiro, senior analyst at Investing.com. Monteiro continued: In a curious turn of events, it’s as if numbers show that even at the worst moment, Elon and the team’s operation can still bring a robust $19.3bn in revenue, with total revenue partly making up for the huge drop in auto revenue. If this is the worst it gets for Tesla, then certainly there must be some upside for the stock once tailwinds, such as the highly awaited cheaper model and the Robotaxi, finally hit the market later this year. Elon Musk to pull back in Doge role starting May amid 71% dip in Tesla profits Read more Share