Tesla investors brace for another year of sales decline as Musk backlash grows

This is our first look at the impact of recent brand damage - and it appears to be the primary driver behind this quarter's delivery decline, ... These growth rates will likely deteriorate further this quarter."

Gene Munster, managing partner at Deepwater Asset Management, said on X

He's a very dangerous force in our country right now,

she said, holding up a poster that read "Dump Tesla."

He could have found efficiency. Instead, he just fired people,

said Rachelle Mazar, a 66-year-old retired nurse attending the protest

Robert Habeckgerman Economy Minister

The perception is that the passion for Tesla has suffered greatly in recent weeks and months, which is perhaps a good opportunity for the automotive industry in Germany. So unexpectedly, there is also a gap in the market if they bring good, powerful cars to market,

Habeck said

Brad Landernew York City Comptroller

Elon Musk is so distracted that he's driving Tesla off a financial cliff,

said Comptroller Brad Lander in a statement

These declines seem in part to be driven by Musk spending his time pursuing political activities, some of which appear to be in conflict with Tesla's brand and business interests, rather than managing Tesla,

Weingarten wrote

The brand is broken and may not be fixable

added Gerber, who was once a Musk supporter but has recently called for the board to remove the billionaire as CEO

Frankly, I can't believe I'm here doing this."

In a recent interview ... adding:

I'm skeptical about demand for the new Model Y from a couple of perspectives, even though there's still a fair amount of growth for electric vehicles, the market is slowing down,

said Thomas Martin, senior portfolio manager at Tesla investor Globalt Investments

Shareholders are hoping Musk will now have the time to focus on rebuilding the Tesla brand,

said Stock Trader Network Chief Strategist Dennis Dick, who has a position in Tesla, referring to the Politico report

Our view is this situation is not sustainable, and the longer Musk stays at DOGE, the more risk there is to the Tesla story,

said Ives,

If Tesla is just a car company, why is the stock up 5% after a huge miss on Q1 deliveries

posted one user, with an image of Tesla's Optimus humanoid robot, which Musk has repeatedly said would overshadow everything else the company has built

The brand crisis issues are clearly having a negative impact on Tesla...there is no debate,

he said

I don’t like what’s happening to you, ... Wow. That’s beautiful.”

said Trump, before slipping into a red Model S and exclaiming

I bought this before Elon went crazy.”

Owners have put bumper stickers on their cars saying

This is a very expensive job,

Musk said at a Wisconsin rally on Sunday, referring to his DOGE role

If you agree or disagree with DOGE it misses the point that by Musk spending 110% of his time with DOGE (and not as Tesla CEO) since President Trump got back into the White House this has essentially turned Tesla into a political symbol…. and this is a bad thing,

Ives wrote

Sean Tucker (American football)american football player (born 2001)

They have a certain significant public image problem that’s really something we haven’t seen before in this industry,

Sean Tucker, lead editor at Kelley Blue Book, told TechCrunch

It’s very difficult for people in the stock market, especially those that look in the rearview mirror, which is most people, to imagine a future where suddenly a 10 million vehicle fleet has five to 10 times the usefulness,

Musk said, referring to the now-defunct claim

I look forward to watching the sick terrorist thugs get 20-year jail sentences for what they are doing to Elon Musk and Tesla. Perhaps they could serve them in the prisons of El Salvador, which have become so recently famous for such lovely conditions!”

Trump said on his social media platform, Truth Social