Shares of the electric carmaker Tesla (TSLA 4.28%) started this morning in the red only to reverse course and work their way firmly into positive territory, with shares trading 5% higher as of 2:15 p.m. ET today. There was a lot of news about Tesla, including first-quarter deliveries and reports that CEO Elon Musk may soon end his involvement in government affairs.
Is Musk done with DOGE?
The morning started poorly for Tesla after the company reported fewer than 337,000 deliveries in the first quarter of the year, worse than analysts had expected. Deliveries fell 13% year over year and hit their lowest level since 2022.
Multiple reports this year have shown that sales of Tesla vehicles are down globally. Customers seemingly disapprove of Musk’s involvement with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE), an effort by President Donald Trump’s administration to slash government spending to try to fix fiscal budgetary concerns.
However, stocks started to reverse course in the late morning, as investors got optimistic that Trump’s highly anticipated tariff announcement today would put an end to some of the uncertainty that has dogged the market since he took office.
Then Politico dropped a bombshell, reporting that Musk may step away from his role with DOGE, citing three anonymous sources with close ties to the president. Tesla’s stock turned firmly higher, as investors and analysts clearly want Musk to get his focus back on Tesla, which has seen its stock crushed this year after a strong post-election run.
Musk has publicly said how difficult his involvement with DOGE has been, citing vandalism to Tesla vehicles and the struggling stock price. He recently called his DOGE role “a very expensive job.”
A Musk departure would be perceived well
Not only has Musk’s role with DOGE had a negative impact on Tesla, but Musk already had his hands full before DOGE, given that he also runs SpaceX, X (formerly Twitter), and several other tech companies. Tesla’s core electric vehicle business is facing increased competition, and many big events are coming up, including Tesla’s launch of its unsupervised self-driving technology and robotics division.
With Tesla trading at over 107 times forward earnings and lots of uncertainty regarding its future businesses, I’m still not a buyer at these levels. But getting Musk out of the limelight and redirecting his focus back to Tesla would certainly be a step in the right direction.
Bram Berkowitz has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
