synopsis

The company said it will revisit full-year guidance in its Q2 update, citing factors like autonomy progress, factory production ramps, and macroeconomic conditions.

Tesla, Inc.'s (TSLA) stock jumped over 5% after the closing bell on Tuesday despite a big quarterly earnings miss as investor hopes were rekindled by CEO Elon Musk’s promise to refocus on his business.

Musk, who has been spending more time as part of President Donald Trump’s Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) in Washington, D.C., said his work outside of Tesla remained “critical.”

“Because if the ship of America goes down, we all go down with it, including Tesla and everyone else,” he said on the earnings call, according to a transcript on Koyfin.

However, he added that starting "probably next month ... my time allocation at DOGE will drop significantly."

"I'll have to continue doing it. I think we have the remainder of the President's term just to make sure that the waste and fraud that we stopped does not come roaring back."

Musk said he would continue to spend "a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the President would like me to, as long as it is useful."

"But starting next month, I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done."

Musk said Tesla had gone though "many near-death experiences" over the years, adding that "we're not on edge of death, not even close."

The billionaire entrepreneur said he remained "extremely optimistic" about Tesla's future, which is "fundamentally based on large-scale autonomous cars and ... vast numbers of autonomous humanoid robots."

Musk's comments overshadowed the company's disappointing Q1 print that revealed a 71% plunge in profit to $0.27 per share and a 9% drop in revenue to $19.34 billion, both missing Wall Street estimates by a wide margin.

Retail investors, however, were not aligned with the broader market. Stocktwits data showed that sentiment for Tesla remained ‘bearish’ late on Tuesday amid a 167% jump in message volume.

TSLA sentiment and message volume as of April 22. | source: Stocktwits

"I love how bulls somehow are celebrating a complete MISS on all dimensions and no growth path that isn’t dependent on vaporware. Market will drop so fast tomorrow," said one user.

Another skeptic expects the stock to fall under $200 in the next 30 days.

Looking ahead, Tesla reaffirmed plans to launch a robotaxi service in Austin, Texas, by June and volume production starting next year. 

The company also said its goal of producing new vehicles in the first half of this year remains on track, adding that "more affordable options are as critical as ever" amid economic uncertainty resulting from changing trade policies.

Musk added that Tesla was the least impacted car company by Trump's tariffs, which currently impose a 25% duty on all imported automobiles.

However, finance chief Vaibhav Taneja said the tariff impact on Tesla's energy business will be outsized due to the number of parts imported from China and affect capital investment plans.

The company said it is making prudent investments to grow its vehicle and energy businesses. Still, it will revisit full-year guidance in its Q2 update, citing factors like autonomy progress, factory production ramps, and macroeconomic conditions.

Tesla stock has now lost 39% as of the last close.

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