Tesla's Won't Fix Its Worst Problems With Elon Musk In Charge

Plunging sales & growing losses, severe price cuts & layoffs, failed FSD, M2 dropped for Robotaxi, and more, confirm Elon Musk won't fix Tesla problems he created. He still demands "unfathomable" pay.

Tesla TSLA 0.00%↑ investors have been running for the exits, which left the stock by Monday’s close at the lowest since January 2023 at $142.05. This is down 43% ytd, down 52% versus the last peak hit in July 2023, and down 65% versus its all-time high not seen since November 2021.

Waves of negative news became a tsunami that overwhelmed Tesla over the past month, surprising even those of us who have long warned about Tesla’s foundering prospects (see Tesla Q1 Deliveries: Look Out Below on 4/3/24 following Tesla Q1 Trends: Rockslide on 3/25/24.)

This came before Tesla announced ugly first-quarter earnings on Wednesday when the company was expected to report striking declines in revenue and profits after deliveries fell 9% y/y to just 386,910—the lowest since Q3 2022 when Covid impacts produced Tesla’s only other y/y drop in sales. As I had warned, first-quarter sales dropped in every model in every market and have continued to fall accordingly well into the second quarter—triggering even more severe price cuts.

Here, again, are my first-quarter estimates:

With Q1 deliveries as reported, I estimate revenue at $20.3 billion (down 13% y/y), with EBITDA down 31% at $2.94 billion (14.5% margin; down 380 bps) and net income at $1.62 billion (down 35% y/y).

Tesla Q1 Deliveries: Look Out Below on 4/3/24

The trouble is, Tesla’s problems aren’t going away anytime soon and the company seems helpless to stem the tide—with Elon Musk in charge.

The following are among the most critical issues for which I believe Tesla owes investors explanations and credible solutions.