An analyst who is one of the biggest boosters of Tesla on Wall Street says Elon Musk is facing a “moment of truth” at his EV company because of a “crisis” he’s created by spending so much in the Trump administration.
The analyst, Wedbush’s Dan Ives, pleaded with Musk in a note published Thursday to reduce his role working with the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE).
“If you agree or disagree with DOGE it misses the point 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…. and this is a bad thing,” Ives wrote. This has led to what Ives described as a “brand tornado crisis moment for Musk and Tesla.”
Ives’ plea comes as Tesla’s stock price has fallen to around $230 — less than half its all-time peak in late December of around $480, and lower than it was before Trump got elected. Protests against the company are growing worldwide, an the level of vandalism against Tesla’s vehicles and stores has increased so much that it prompted the new administration to label the actions as “domestic terrorism.”
Ives used similar language in a note published earlier in March, but couched it in a more optimistic tone, saying he believed the company was at the “start of the biggest innovation and technology cycle in Tesla’s history.”
Thursday’s note was more somber. While he wrote on X that Wedbush has “never been more bullish on Tesla’s future,” he specifically called on Musk and Tesla’s board of directors to “step up, stop being silent, and help resolve this crisis.”
Ives didn’t call on Musk to step down — although another high-profile Tesla investor who once tried to get on Tesla’s board in 2023, Ross Gerber, is calling for just that. Instead, Ives urged the CEO to announce he will “balance” his roles at DOGE and Tesla.
He also wants Musk to offer a more concrete roadmap for the mysterious “more affordable models” that are supposed to debut at some point this year, as well as more detail on its attempt to launch a robotaxi service.
If the Tesla CEO does those things, Ives wrote, the “heat from Musk around DOGE will start to dissipate among most of the critics and this will leave a scar,” but won’t lead to “permanent brand damage.”
