Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk's work in President Donald Trump's White House, heading up the Department of Government Efficiency, or DOGE, has turned the EV giant into a "political symbol" resulting in "brand damage" for the company, according to a leading Tesla stock bull.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, who has long been bullish on Tesla and Musk, wrote late Wednesday that the demonstrations at Tesla dealerships and social movements against Musk "have all created a massive overhang" for TSLA stock.
"As someone who is a core bull and believer in the Tesla long-term growth story," Ives wrote. "I loudly urge Musk and the Board to step up, stop being silent, and help resolve this crisis forming at Tesla."
"If you agree or disagree with DOGE it misses the point," Ives wrote. The point, he said, is that "by Musk spending 110% of his time with DOGE (and not as Tesla CEO) since President Trump got back into the White House this has essentially turned Tesla into a political symbol."
The analyst added that to curb the negativity around Tesla and DOGE, Musk must formally announce in the coming months how he is going to balance DOGE with his duties as Tesla CEO. Ives also believes Musk must also give clear timing for Tesla' new lower cost vehicles and the unsupervised FSD roll-out in Austin scheduled for June.
"With a Model Y refresh, inventory issues, and a host of demand issues with Musk brand damage a worry ... there is one person Tesla investors need to hear from ... Musk," Ives wrote Wednesday.
Tesla stock edged up 0.17% to 236.26 during Thursday's stock market action even as the company is recalling 46,096 Cybertruck vehicles to fix an exterior panel that could detach while driving, according to U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration. Tesla sold 38,965 Cybertrucks in 2024, according to Cox Automotive estimates.
Elon Musk: Tesla Stock Performance
TSLA rose 4.7% to 235.86 on Wednesday but is still working on its ninth straight weekly decline and has crashed well below key technical support. Investors should generally avoid stocks below the 200-day or even their 50-day lines.
On Wednesday, Baird analysts announced they are maintaining a "bearish fresh pick" designation on TSLA after a tour of Tesla's battery manufacturing line at the Texas gigafactory and a meeting with the investor relations. Meanwhile, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard upgraded Tesla to overweight from neutral with an unchanged price target of 425 on Wednesday
TSLA stock fell 5.3% to 225.31 on Tuesday amid various Tesla China news pointing to lackluster demand for the refreshed Model Y. More analysts are also slashing price targets and estimates for deliveries and earnings, citing brand destruction in the U.S. and Europe.
Tesla stock enters Thursday down more than 19% in March.
The EV giant has fallen 41.6% so far in 2025, the worst performer in the S&P 500 this year.
Earnings Consensus Falling
Meanwhile, analysts have been revising Q1 and full-year earnings estimates, according to FactSet. FactSet's current Sharp Consensus predicts first-quarter earnings down 2% to 44 cents per share. The Sharp Consensus view has dropped 14% since the end of January.
The company is also expected to see Q1 vehicle deliveries increase 7% to 417,000 as of Thursday estimates, which have declined 7% since Jan. 31. The most timely delivery estimates are around 358,000-378,000, which would be below Q1 2024's 386,810.
For the full year, Sharp Consensus pegs Tesla EPS increasing 6% to $2.57. However, the Sharp Consensus number has dropped more than 10% in recent months. For 2025, analysts predict Tesla vehicle deliveries to increase 9% to 1.95 million units, but with more recent forecasts targeting flat to lower sales for the year.
Tesla stock has a 21-day average true range of 7.09%. The ATR metric is available on IBD's MarketSurge charting tool. It gauges the characteristic breadth of a stock's behavior. Stocks that tend to make large jumps or dives in daily action, the kind that can trigger sell rules and shake investors out of a stock, have a high ATR. Stocks that tend to make more incremental moves have lower ATRs.
In the current, unpredictable market, IBD suggests stocks with ATRs of 3 or below.
Tesla stock ranks eighth in the 35-stock IBD Auto Manufacturers industry group. The stock has a 48 Composite Rating out of a best-possible 99. Shares also have a 33 Relative Strength Rating and an 84 EPS Rating.
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