Tesla reports its quarterly earnings after the bell on Tuesday, April 22, with a follow-up "live company update" kicking off at 5:30 p.m. ET.
AP Photo/Jeff Chiu, File
Tesla will release its first-quarter earnings after the closing bell on Tuesday.
Shares in the electric-vehicle maker were down 44% year-to-date through Tuesday.
Investors are on high alert for key details on self-driving initiatives and robotaxis.
Tesla will report first-quarter earnings on Tuesday after the closing bell.
Wall Street is leaning bearish heading into the results as uncertainty swirls around CEO Elon Musk's involvement with the US government. Investors will be listening for updates on margins, robotaxis, the Cybertruck, and a more affordable Tesla model.
Tesla's earnings-release time is roughly 4:30 p.m. ET, and its conference call with analysts will start around 5:30 p.m. ET.
Tesla's stock was down 44% year-to-date through Monday's close, lagging the S&P 500's 11% loss.
Barclays says Tesla's profit margins are top of mindDemonstrators protesting against Elon Musk and electric car maker Tesla on February 22, 2025, in Seattle, Washington.
David Ryder/Getty Images
Barclays warned that falling profit margins or a tepid outlook from Tesla management "could be a splash of cold water on the stock."
In a note last week, the firm's analysts said its 2025 Tesla earnings per share estimate is $2.24, which is below consensus estimates of $2.65 and well below the consensus estimate at the start of the year of more than $3.20.
The firm said that while there is potential for a "good narrative" for Tesla related to CEO Elon Musk refocusing his time at the company and a coming Full-Self-Driving event, that could be outweighed by "weak fundamentals."
"Amid a soft start on 2025 volume, we believe it will be increasingly difficult for Tesla to achieve volume growth in 2025 — we now forecast negative volumes," Barclays said.
Barclays rates Tesla at "Equal Weight" and lowered its price target to $275 from $325.
Tesla's sales slowdown is spreading across key regions, Deutsche Bank says
Following Tesla's first-quarter delivery results, analysts at Deutsche Bank revised lower their estimates for the company's full-year deliveries.
The firm now expects Tesla to deliver about 1.7 million vehicles this year, down 5% year-over-year.
"Geographically, we had already factored in a very weak performance from Europe, therefore, US likely led to the downside," Deutsche Bank said of vehicle sales.
The firm also expects Tesla's profit margins to suffer, potentially dropping to the 10% to 11% range from 13.6% in the fourth quarter.
Deutsche Bank rates Tesla at "Buy" with a $345 price target.
Worrying signs for the CybertruckA line of Tesla Cybertrucks.
Suzanne Cordeiro
Tesla has scaled back its Cybertruck production as it grapples with decreasing demand.
The automaker lowered production targets for several Cybertruck lines in recent months, BI first reported. The changes come to light as a March 20 recall filing said the company has delivered fewer than 50,000 Cybertrucks.
When Tesla launched the Cybertruck in 2023, it was backed by four years of hype, a $120,000 price tag, and a lengthy wait list that helped turn it into a status symbol. A little over a year later, the Cybertruck has become the arguably the most polarizing vehicle on the market.
Tesla has since started to quietly rebrand the Cybertruck as a working man's vehicle, BI's Grace Kay reports. In addition to visible changes, like Tesla redesigning its product page to include photos of the pickup truck hauling equipment, sales workers told BI that there has been a push to increasingly market the Cybertruck toward the traditional truck buyer.
The average price of a used Tesla fell more than 10% in March compared to the same period last year, according to data from used car listing website iSeeCars — the largest drop of any car brand in the firm's data.
Prices for pre-owned Model S and Model Y vehicles collapsed 17.2% and 13.1% year-over-year, with the average price of a Model 3 now just over $26,000. That's despite the average price of used cars overall rising slightly in March for the first time in two and a half years, per iSeeCars' data.
6 things to look out for in Tesla's earnings release and 'live company update'
Tesla's earnings report and follow-up presentation (which it's calling a "live company update" this time, sparking speculation that the company could show off something new) will be closely watched by both investors and fans.
Here are six things to look out for:
The impact of the Elon Musk backlash on Tesla's bottom line
A possible end date for Elon Musk's DOGE work
An update on a 'more affordable' Tesla
Robotaxi service rollout in Austin
More details on its Optimus humanoid robot
Impact of Trump tariffs
You can dive deeper into each of those topics here.
Wedbush: This is a 'Code Red Situation' for Elon Musk
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives, who has long been bullish on Tesla, said in a note on Sunday that Elon Musk is facing a "Code Red Situation."
According to Ives, Musk needs to distance himself from the government's DOGE committee, which investors worry is distracting him from Tesla this year and turning the EV maker's brand into a political talking point.
Ives wants to see a number of announcements on Tuesday, including: a date for its cyber taxi network to be rolled out, when investors can expect a low-cost vehicle to enter production, a sales timeline for its Optimus robot, and how the company will return to growth in 2025.
Wedbush rates Tesla at "Outperform" with a $315 price target.
JPMorgan warns of "unprecedented brand damage"The Tesla factory in Fremont, California.
Justin Sullivan/Getty Images
JPMorgan reduced its earnings estimates for Tesla following its weak first-quarter delivery results.
Following the results, the bank said it "may have underestimated the degree of consumer reaction" to Tesla and Elon Musk.
"The trend in Tesla sales is worse than we and the market had appreciated, prompting us to lower our already below consensus estimates accordingly and to expect consensus to decline further, toward our new lower estimates," JPMorgan said.
The bank expects Tesla to sell about 1.7 million vehicles in 2025 and earn $2.30 per share in the full year.
JPMorgan rates Tesla at "Underweight" with a $120 price target.
Tesla earnings expectations: First-quarter adjusted EPS estimate is $0.44