2 weeks Ago By Associated Press
NEW YORK — Tesla’s first-quarter profits plunged by more than two-thirds amid a backlash against Elon Musk’s electric car company that has hurt sales and sent its stock plunging. The Austin, Texas, company said Tuesday that quarterly profits fell by 70% to to $409 million, or 12 cents a share. That’s far below analyst estimates.
Tesla’s revenue fell 9% to $19.3 billion in the January through March period, also below Wall Street’s forecast. The disappointing results come as the company struggles to sell cars to consumers angry over Musk’s leadership of a federal government jobs-cutting group that has divided the country and sparked protests.
Musk also has publicly supported far-right politicians in Europe and alienated potential buyers there, too. Many investors have also complained Musk is too distracted with his Trump administration role to be running Tesla and that he should either relinquish his position as CEO or abandon his advisory role in Washington. Tesla’ stock has fallen more than 40% this year but rose slightly in after-hours trading.
Morningstar analyst Seth Goldstein said earlier reports of plunging sales that had tanked the stock made the results almost predictable. “They’re not particularly surprising given that deliveries were down,” Goldstein said, adding that the company is still generating cash. “It was good to see positive cash flow.
” The company generated $2.2 billion in operating cash versus $242 million a year earlier..
