Elon Musk has announced he will reduce his involvement with the government efficiency body known as Doge from next month, as Tesla reported a sharp fall in first-quarter profits and revenue.
On an investor call, Mr Musk said the work needed to get the government's “financial house in order” was largely complete, adding that his time allocation to Doge would “drop significantly” from May. He expects to spend one to two days a week on “critical work” for as long as the president wishes, with his service as a special government employee due to end on 30 May.
Tesla's first-quarter results for 2025 showed revenue of $19.3bn, down 9% year on year and below forecasts of $21.45bn. Net income fell 71% to $409m from $1.39bn, while earnings per share came in at 27 cents against an expected 43 cents. Vehicle deliveries dropped 13% to 336,681, marking the company's worst quarter since 2022.
Despite the shortfalls, some analysts were cautiously optimistic after expectations had been significantly lowered. Thomas Monteiro of Investing.com described the “less-than-bad numbers” as welcome news, suggesting there could be upside once a cheaper model and the Robotaxi service reach the market. Tesla plans to launch Robotaxi in June, and Mr Musk predicted fully autonomous operation in many US cities by the end of the year, with millions of Teslas running autonomously in the second half of next year.
Analysts attribute Tesla's difficulties largely to Mr Musk's White House role, which they say has created a branding crisis. The company has faced a 50% decline in its share price, a wave of existing owners selling vehicles, vandalism, removal from the Vancouver International Auto Show, and a recall of 46,000 Cybertrucks.
