Trump’s first 100 days: How Elon Musk’s Tesla has surprised
You can catch Opening Bid on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, or wherever you get your podcasts. Tesla’s (TSLA) stock is back to its electrified trading sessions following the company’s latest earnings report a week ago. Shares have rallied 18% in the past five trading sessions as Trump supporter and Tesla CEO Elon Musk has promised to cut back his DOGE-related activities. While the bulls may feel emboldened again on the controversial stock, the reality is shares have done the complete opposite of what many thought at the start of the Trump 2.0 presidency. With Musk literally inside the White House almost daily, it was supposed to mean great things for Tesla’s money-printing presses and stock price. That has hardly been the case. Shares look poised to end Trump’s first 100-day period down more than 30%. First quarter results showed sales and profits plunged as Musk faced public backlash over his DOGE role and dealt with an aging product lineup. The Street remains level-headed with its analysis of the new “show me” stock in Tesla. “We believe downside risk to consensus estimates over the near to medium term is offset by what we think will be improved longer-term profits driven in part by increased software revenue with full self-driving (although we have a more balanced view of Tesla’s monetization potential from FSD than the company is targeting),” Goldman Sachs analyst Mark Delaney said. The verdict is out on where Tesla’s stock will be on Trump’s 200-day mark, but for Musk’s sake, hopefully it won’t mirror the performance out of the gate. The path to renewed sales and profit growth won’t be easy, however. The Tesla brand will likely continue to feel blowback from Musk’s outspokenness on government policies. At the same time, tariff policy stands to hammer margins, given Tesla’s exposure to solar panels from China and autos being made outside the US. The uncertainty on how quickly Musk can fix Tesla is something execs pointed to on the earnings release – Tesla yanked its 2025 financial guidance, promising to revisit it when second quarter results hit. For full episodes of Opening Bid, listen on your favorite podcast platform or watch on our website. Yahoo Finance's Opening Bid is produced by Langston Sessoms
