Tesla Earnings Live: First-Quarter Results Fall Short of Expectations; Musk Pledges to Spend More Time at Tesla
One of this week’s highest-profile earnings reports came in weaker than Wall Street had anticipated, but the company’s high-profile CEO delivered some news that lifted investor spirits.
We’re talking about EV maker Tesla (TSLA), which posted steep declines on the top and bottom lines in the first quarter as its automotive revenue slid 20% from a year earlier. But CEO Elon Musk pledged to spend more time at Tesla, while saying that plans for a cheaper model and fully self-driving vehicles remain on track. Tesla shares were up more than 5% in after-hours trading.
The stock has been under pressure for much of 2025, pushed lower by economic uncertainty, indicators of weakness in the company’s core auto business, and questions about whether Musk is devoting enough time to the company alongside his other corporate and governmental commitments.
The company makes cars, sure. But it also seeks to be a leader in autonomous mobility, robotics and artificial intelligence—sprawling ambitions bulls say should mean big upside for the stock. That hasn’t always been an easy sell in 2025, with the shares having lost more than a third of their value; in the last 52 weeks, they’ve both approached $500 and drifted below $150.
Meanwhile, Tesla was the first of the Magnificent Seven companies to report this quarter. That means investors were not only eyeing the results and conference call for clues on what’s next for Tesla, but for the tech trade broadly.
Musk Says Tesla Not Immune to Macro Trends Hurting Demand
“Tesla is not immune to sort of the macro demand for cars. So when there is economic uncertainty, people generally want to pause on buying during a major capital purchase, like a car,” Musk said.
The comments come amid concerns consumers are scrapping plans to buy cars and make other big purchases amid worries about an economic downturn in the face of President Trump’s tariffs.
Optimus Robot to Scale Faster Than Any Other Tesla Product
As Tesla works to expand its presence in robotics and artificial intelligence, Musk said the company is making “good progress” on its Optimus humanoid robot, adding he expects it to scale faster than any product in the company’s history.
Musk said he expects to have thousands of the robots working in Tesla factories by the end of this year, and suggested the company could reach a million units by 2029.
Musk has previously said the robot, which is expected to become available to other companies next year for between $20,000 and $30,000, could become “the biggest product ever, of any kind,” and overtake vehicles as a source of Tesla’s revenue.
