What's Going on With Tesla Shares?

Tesla TSLA has been a polarizing stock over the last decade, delivering massive gains for investors as we increasingly shift toward EVs.

And in 2025, shares have been volatile, to say the least, down 30% overall and widely underperforming relative to the S&P 500. Shares were down big today, with CEO Elon Musk’s comments on X toward the Trump administration seemingly increasing volatility.

Notably, the stock currently sports an unfavorable Zacks Rank #5 (Strong Sell), with analysts revising their EPS expectations negatively across the board in a big way over recent months.

The downward revisions paint a challenging picture for TSLA’s share performance in the near term, and investors can expect a heightened level of volatility here given the stock’s politically sensitive nature.

Tesla Q1 Earnings

Tesla reported Q1 revenue of $19.3 billion and adjusted EPS of $0.27 in its latest release, reflecting year-over-year declines of 9% and 50%, respectively. Still, results from Tesla’s Energy Generation & Storage segment reflected some positivity, with sales climbing 67% year-over-year to $2.7 billion.

Below is a chart illustrating the company’s sales on a quarterly basis.

Concerning EV production/deliveries, Tesla delivered roughly 337k EVs and produced nearly 363k throughout the period.

While the EV numbers are important, another critical aspect of the release was the margin picture, with the company’s gross margin contracting to 16.3% vs. a 17.4% print in the same period last year. Please note that the margins chart below is calculated on a trailing twelve-month basis.

Putting Everything Together

Tesla TSLA shares have been big-time winners over the past decade for many, but recent performance has undoubtedly left a sour taste in many mouths.

The recent profitability crunch and slowing sales growth are driving forces behind the stock’s poor performance, with competition also quickly becoming fierce. Given the stock’s politically sensitive nature as of late, it’s more than reasonable to expect heightened volatility in the coming weeks.

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This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

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