Elon Musk’s eye-popping remarks cheer up Tesla investors

Tesla stock  (TSLA)  has been under pressure for months, weighed down by concerns over the electric vehicle maker’s profitability, a delayed robotaxi timeline, and questions about CEO Elon Musk’s focus.

Some investors have grown uneasy about Musk’s political engagements, particularly his work with the White House’s Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, which they see as a distraction from Tesla’s core business.

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Tesla shares have plunged 37.9% year-to-date, far underperforming peers like Rivian, down 11.3%, and broader benchmarks such as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq, which have declined 15.3% and 13.5%, respectively. Lingering concerns around interest rates, tariffs, and weakening consumer demand have added to the pressure.

But on April 23, the stock jumped 5.3%, fueled by optimism after Musk’s remarks during the latest earnings call.

Musk refocuses on Tesla, plans robotaxi debut

Tesla posted disappointing first-quarter results on April 22, including a 20% year-over-year decline in automotive revenue and a 71% plunge in net income.

Adjusted earnings came in at 27 cents per share on $19.34 billion in revenue, missing Wall Street’s estimates of 39 cents and $21.11 billion. The company also signaled it may revisit its 2025 guidance later this year.

Related: Surprising China news sends Tesla’s stock reeling

Still, Musk struck a tone that investors found encouraging.

He said he plans to reduce his involvement in the White House’s DOGE office and dedicate more time to Tesla.

“Starting next month, I will be allocating far more of my time to Tesla,” he said, adding that “the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done.”

Still, he said he’ll spend a day or two per week on government matters, depending on President Trump’s wishes.

Musk also gave new details on Tesla’s long-awaited robotaxi service, which will debut in Austin this June with an initial fleet of “maybe 10 to 20 vehicles.”

“We want to make sure that we’re paying very close attention,” he said, noting operations will “scale up rapidly after that.” The goal, according to Musk, is to expand the service to many U.S. cities by the end of this year, with “millions of Teslas operating fully autonomously in the second half of next year.”

With regard to tariffs, Musk said Tesla is in a stronger position than most rivals.

“Something that Tesla has been working on for several years is to localize supply chains,” Musk said. “Tariffs are still tough on a company when margins are still low, but we do have localized supply chains in both America, Europe, and China, so that puts us in a stronger position than any of our competitors.”

Musk also reiterated that he does not support high tariffs and has voiced his views to Trump.

Analysts raise Tesla stock price target

Wedbush analysts led by Daniel Ives raised the firm’s stock price target for Tesla to $350 from $315 and maintained an outperform rating. The new price target implies nearly 40% upside from Tesla’s current stock price of $250.74.

Although the analyst acknowledged that it was a “disaster quarter” for Tesla with weak deliveries and big misses, they noted that Musk’s comments on the earnings call may matter more.

Related: Cathie Wood buys $6 million battered tech stocks amid tariff shock

“We saw a dialed-in Musk on the conference call we have rarely seen in the past,” the analysts wrote. “Some of the brand damage will slowly go away…but importantly, Tesla got back its biggest asset….Musk.”

The analysts said this is a pivotal period for Tesla with unsupervised FSD launching in Austin this June, a lower-cost vehicle still on the horizon in 2025, Cybercab/robotaxi volume production set to launch in the U.S. for 2026, and Optimus now becoming a closer reality.

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“As the autonomous and robotics future takes hold, we see significant upside to shares, as the Tesla disruptive technology narrative takes hold with Musk now back in the driver’s seat and a lot of wood to chop ahead,” the analysts said.

However, the firm warns that there are still headwinds, tariffs, and clear growth challenges for Tesla over the coming year.

“Deliveries this year will be soft but improve in 2H as the Model Y refresh and inventories work its way through the system,” the analysts said.

Related: Veteran fund manager unveils eye-popping S&P 500 forecast

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