This may be probably the most hyped Tesla earnings in latest reminiscence. And never for all the precise causes.
Tesla has taken many hits this yr as its CEO Elon Musk leans additional into right-wing politics and oversees DOGE, the advisory physique that President Trump has bestowed the facility to slash federal spending.
For Tesla, that has meant watching each its inventory value and international gross sales plummet. And that’s not even making an allowance for strain from rivals in China, Europe, and North America.
As Tesla bull and Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas wrote in a notice this morning, Tesla is going through the bottom margin expectations this quarter in 12 years. How Tesla’s inventory performs will probably be reliant on the corporate’s skill to elucidate why its revenue margins are worse than Volkswagen’s amid “probably money burn,” instill confidence in its autonomy plans, and wrangle Musk’s consideration away from the White Home.
Analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance expect income of round $21.41 billion, which might be flat year-over-year and down from $25.7 billion in This autumn 2024.
Tesla’s Q1 2025 earnings name is at 2:30 p.m. PT / 5:30 p.m. ET. The general public can hear alongside to the decision by tuning in right here, right here, or on X. Right here’s what we’ll be listening for.
Up to date EV gross sales steerage
Throughout Tesla’s final earnings name, the corporate mentioned it expects its car enterprise to “return to development in 2025.” Will that also be the case, given Tesla’s unimpressive supply numbers for Q1 and weak buyer demand pushed partially by Musk’s politics?
Tesla recorded 336,681 deliveries within the first three months of the yr, its worst quarterly efficiency in additional than two years.
The automaker does have some tailwinds. It’s higher positioned than different OEMs to climate Trump’s tariff storm as a consequence of its home sourcing and excessive diploma of vertical integration. That mentioned, Musk’s proximity to Trump in all probability doesn’t assist his reputation in China, one in all Tesla’s largest markets. That dynamic may drive extra prospects into the open arms of rival BYD.
Any point out of a budget EV
Sources at Tesla have advised us that the corporate has all however deserted its plans for a low-cost EV, although others have reported the automaker has merely delayed the automobile’s rollout by months. Both means, we’ll be listening out for updates there.
Robotaxi rollout
Throughout Tesla’s full-year 2024 earnings name, Musk mentioned the corporate would launch a paid ride-hailing robotaxi service in Austin beginning this June. He has mentioned up to now that Tesla would first use Mannequin Y and Mannequin 3 automobiles with “unsupervised” FSD, relatively than its two-seater Cybercab idea that’s constructed and not using a steering wheel or pedals.
As analysis analysts at Cantor mentioned: “Tesla has not but quantified the commercialization of its Robotaxi section, or disclosed preliminary routes/territory.” So traders and analysts will probably be looking out for extra concrete particulars of Tesla’s Austin plans.
The automaker has additionally mentioned that it plans to launch in California this yr, however has been mum on these particulars.
Cybercab manufacturing
We’re additionally hoping to listen to some updates on Tesla’s Cybercab. Federal laws don’t at present enable for operators to mass produce and deploy autonomous automobiles with out human controls built-in with out an exemption. Musk will probably bend that regulation to his will, as he’s wont to do, so we’d get some insights later into when Tesla plans to start out manufacturing on these futuristic-looking automobiles.
Optimus updates
In This autumn, Musk mentioned he anticipated Tesla to start out utilizing Optimus humanoid robots internally this yr, significantly for the “boring” duties. We’ll be listening for a timeline for that, in addition to when Tesla says it’ll start excessive quantity manufacturing of Optimus, and when it expects to start preliminary deliveries.
Dojo or Cortex
Musk and Tesla have been quiet on Dojo since August 2024, a shock given how gung ho they had been in regards to the supercomputer that may assist the corporate obtain its full self-driving desires. Then there’s Cortex, which is Tesla’s different new big AI coaching supercluster being constructed at Tesla HQ in Austin to assist clear up real-world AI. In Tesla’s This autumn shareholder deck, the corporate shared updates on Cortex, however nothing on Dojo.
The newest replace we’ve seen present some type of computing cluster got here from the Tesla AI X account with the phrases, “Quiet please. The machines are studying.” Although it’s not clear if it’s Dojo or Cortex.
The reprioritization of Elon
Per Jonas’s notice, traders will probably be looking for “any indicators of Tesla’s CEO reprioritizing the efforts of Tesla versus politically oriented endeavors.”
Dan Ives, a Wedbush analyst and different Tesla bull, mentioned in a notice Sunday that Musk is going through a “Code Pink State of affairs.” He reiterated his earlier stance that Musk must distance himself from DOGE in order that the Tesla model ceases to be a political speaking level.
