Zinger Key Points
- A large protest effort against Elon Musk and Tesla may have hurt sales for the EV company in the first quarter.
- Tesla Takedown shares an update on their progress and what's next.
- Learn the top momentum trading strategies for today’s whipsaw market, live with Chris Capre on Sunday, May 4 at 1 PM ET. Reserve your free spot now.
The involvement of Tesla Inc. TSLA CEO Elon Musk in politics may have hurt demand for the company's vehicles, leading to lower first-quarter financial results.
A group protesting against Musk says their efforts are working.
What Happened: Since February, there have been over 2,000 Tesla Takedown protests globally, with local organizers hosting more than 150 events each week to raise awareness about what Musk is doing in the Trump Administration and to pressure him to leave the government.
Tesla Takedown said the electric vehicle company's financial results show that protests are working. This comes with Tesla's quarterly revenue and earnings per share missing analyst estimates.
"Today's earnings report sends a very clear message: the Tesla Takedown grassroots pressure is beginning to hit Tesla where it hurts – the company's bottom line," Tesla Takedown said via email.
The email also highlighted that Tesla's net income was down 71% year-over-year and that Tesla was on the verge of losing money without regulatory credit sales. It also hits on "promises mad. Promises broken" by Musk and Tesla, listing several items that were announced and have been delayed or never come to fruition.
"Given Elon's proven track record of broken Tesla promises, why would anyone welcome a partially sentient robot like Optimus into their home and around their family?"
The organizers behind Tesla Takedown said their cause isn't just a moment, "it's a movement."
"As Tesla stock craters and company faces dire headwinds, Musk is failing on everything except undermining our government and first amendment rights."
Tesla Takedown said Musk "launched an unprecedented assault" on public services and the rule of law.
"When people rise up, corporations pay attention. As long as Elon Musk continues to lead a regime that exploits our data, undermines public institutions, and fuels environmental destruction, the backlash against Tesla will only grow."
Why It's Important: Tesla Takedown said their efforts will continue. The organization said it may begin protesting other Musk-related companies in the future.
"Tesla Takedown has already started laying the groundwork to expand Tesla Takedown efforts to target other Musk businesses including SpaceX, Starlink, X and xAI."
The organization said it would like to see governments and public pensions join the movement and stop buying Tesla vehicles and signing contracts with his companies.
Tesla Takedown encourages people to have peaceful protests against Elon Musk and Donald Trump.
Musk spoke out about the protestors during Tesla's first-quarter earnings call, accusing the protest groups of being funded by government waste and fraud.
"They're…obviously not going to say admit that the reason that they're protesting is because they're receiving fraudulent money or that they're the recipient of wasteful largesse," Musk said.
On Tuesday, Musk said he would commit less time to the White House and more time to Tesla, beginning in May.
TSLA Price Action: Tesla stock is up 7.7% to $256.26 on Wednesday, compared to a 52-week trading range of $157.40 to $488.54. Tesla stock is down 32.5% year-to-date in 2025.
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