(NewsNation) — Tesla CEO Elon Musk told the company’s investors Tuesday that he plans to significantly cut back on the time he spends working with the Department of Government Efficiency in May and will again shift his focus back to the electric car manufacturer.
Musk’s announcement comes on the heels of reports that Tesla’s quarterly profits dropped by more than 70% from this time last year. The company’s quarterly profits were at their lowest point since 2021. The company also reported a 9% drop in revenue.
However, Jon Najarian, the co-founder of Market Rebellion, told NewsNation that the drop in sales and profits was widely expected. Based on delivery numbers that Tesla experienced during the first quarter of 2025, Tuesday’s news was “telegraphed,” Najarian said.
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“It was just not going to be a bang-up quarter, but apparently, the bad news was pretty much priced in,” Najarian said.
President Donald Trump and Tesla CEO Elon Musk talk with to reporters near Tesla vehicles on the South Lawn of the White House on Tuesday, March 11, 2025, in Washington. (Pool via AP)
Investors sent Tesla shares up more than 5% in after-hours trading, although they are still down more than 40% for the year.
Najarian said that people want to see Musk return to the company after devoting so much of his time to DOGE since President Donald Trump took office. The sooner Musk returns, Najarian said, the sooner the company’s stock improves.
Musk told investors that while his time with DOGE could scale back, he has plans to continue working with the administration in some capacity for the rest of Trump’s term. Trump has said that it was always the plan for Musk to return to his company, which has raised the question of how much influence over DOGE Musk will have moving forward.
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Musk was brought in to work with DOGE partly to serve as a “heat shield for criticism” to protect Trump, T.W. Arrighi, a former communications aide to U.S. Sen. Lindsey Graham, R-S.C., told NewsNation. But his current time commitment to working to eliminate government waste was never meant to be permanent, Arrighi said.
Now, the question remains how Musk will split his time.
“I don’t know that he’s going to retire,” Pete Najarian told NewsNation on Tuesday. “But I do think it’s time for him to get back to what he’s doing most of his time.”
He added: “I think with Elon back at the helm — maybe even if it’s just 50, 60, 70% of the time — I think that changes things very dramatically for Tesla.”
The Associated Press contributed to this story
