Tesla must do these 3 on its earnings call, or else

Live

Stocks are getting hit again as Trump lashes out at the Fed and Powell. See the latest.

Brian Sozzi · Executive Editor

Mon, Apr 21, 2025, 8:01 AM

With all due respect to JPMorgan (JPM) and Netflix (NFLX), the most important earnings report of the early earnings season will come on Tuesday by way of embattled Tesla (TSLA). The EV maker’s stock has been run over since President Trump’s Jan. 20 inauguration day, plunging 43%. It’s not hard to find reasons for the tanking. The public’s rebuke of DOGE master and Trump supporter Elon Musk has translated into falling sales. Meanwhile, Trump’s 145% tariffs on China risk Tesla getting the parts it needs to profitably grow a business like the Cybercab while also operating successfully in the country. “The turnaround vision must start this Tuesday night on the earnings conference call for Musk and Tesla,” tech analyst Dan Ives says. Here are three things that Musk must do on the earnings call to begin rebuilding investors' sentiment in the stock:

Government exit timeline: Musk must tell investors when he plans to exit his DOGE role and get back to 100% focus on Tesla.
Tariff impact: Musk (or other execs on the earnings call) must clearly quantify the financial impact of Trump’s tariffs on Tesla’s business.
Turning Tesla around: Musk must articulate the turnaround plan for Tesla. Whether he likes it not, Tesla is now a turnaround story in the eyes of investors. The company may not be bloated cost-wise like typical turnarounds, but Musk has a lot to fix to get the top line back on track.

00:00 Brian Sozzi

Welcome to Opening Bid here at the Nasdaq in Times Square. I'm Yahoo Finance Executive Editor, Brian Sozzi. I want to get to our stock of the day. And of course, that is Tesla. The company's earnings coming up on Tuesday evening. Stock's down about 43% since the inauguration of President Trump on January 20th. So many concerns, so many factors behind this plunge. But I have three. I have three things that I need to hear from Elon Musk on this company's earnings call. Not should hear, must hear. First up, government exit timeline. Musk must tell investors when he plans to exit his Dodge role and get back to a hundred percent focus on Tesla. Need to hear it. Number two, tariff impact. Either Musk or his executives on this call need to quantify the financial impact of the Trump administration's tariffs, whether it's on components from China, whatever it is, they need to quantify this in terms of top-line impact and profitability impact. Investors need to hear this. And last, but not least, turning Tesla around. Musk must articulate, not should, must, must hear, what he is going to do to turn the company around. Whether he likes it or not, Tesla is now a turnaround story in the eyes of investors. Sure, they are not bloated cost-wise, like a lot of other automakers, or other turnaround stories, but it is a turnaround story nonetheless, because sales have fallen off a cliff, in many respects because of things he has done. And I am very excited for this Tesla earnings release, more so than normal. I'm always very excited, but this is going to be the first earnings call that you can listen to live on Yahoo Finance. It's a major new announcement from Yahoo Finance. You can now listen to earnings calls live on our platform. That is where I'll be on Tuesday night listening to Tesla's earnings call live on Yahoo Finance. I am so jazzed to see this feature. Shout out to our many people and teams at Yahoo Finance that made this happen. And of course, we just hit our one-year birthday on Opening Bid, and we have a special episode now on Yahoo Finance with former Intel CEO, Pat Gelsinger. I've followed his entire Intel career, and he's giving me the Yahoo Finance exclusive on his time at Intel and what he's up to next. Appreciate all your support, appreciate all the love. We'll talk to you soon.