Tesla Is Getting Disemboweled by the Tariffs

Tesla's stock continues to tumble amidst the economic chaos wreaked by Trump's tariffs. In early trading Monday, shares of the Elon Musk-owned automaker fell by more than 10 percent to $214.80, Bloomberg reports. Shortly after trading opened, that number hardly looked any better at $219.62, according to MarketWatch data — which still represents an over 8.2 percent plunge. The stock route is a sobering indicator, given that Tesla was seen as one of the few automakers who would — ostensibly — get a leg up from Trump's aggressive tariff policy, which slaps a 25 percent tax on imported cars, not […]

Apr 7, 2025 - 18:25

Tesla Is Getting Disemboweled by the Tariffs

Tesla stock has plunged even lower amid the chaos wreaked by Trump's tariffs, which includes a hefty tax on imported cars and car parts.

Tesla's stock continues to tumble amidst the economic chaos wreaked by Trump's tariffs.

In early trading Monday, shares of the Elon Musk-owned automaker fell by more than 10 percent before bouncing back up to a loss of four to five percent as rumors and drama swirled.

Strikingly, the stock did sink significantly lower than the $235.86 price that commerce secretary Howard Lutnick said Tesla would "never" fall to again, in an interview on Fox News just last month, when he urged the show's overwhelmingly conservative audience to buy in.

The stock rout is a sobering indicator, given that Tesla was seen as one of the few automakers anticipated — ostensibly — to get a leg up from Trump's aggressive tariff policy, which slaps a 25 percent tax on imported cars, not to mention benefit from Musk's close ties with the president, who was willing to briefly turn the White House lawn into a Tesla showroom.

Zooming out, though, the automaker's stock woes predate the incipient trade war. Fueled by Musk's growing unpopularity as he worked closely with president Trump to gut the federal government, Tesla shares have nosedived by 50 percent since reaching an all-time high in December.

First-quarter deliveries weren't just disappointing but alarming: with a reported 13 percent drop, Tesla is on track to have an even worse year than it did in 2024, when it experienced its first decline in sales in history. Analysts took this to be a damning sign of the "unprecedented brand damage" Tesla has suffered, as protests and vandalism against the company rage across the country.

Now, after Trump's "Liberation Day" tariffs, even die-hard investors are seeing the writing on the wall. Noted Tesla bull Daniel Ives, a Wedbush Securities analyst, cut his price target for Tesla in half, downgrading it from $550 to $315.

And even that outcome may be optimistic. Tesla's won't be wholly unscratched by the tariffs, even though all its cars are manufactured in the US. The tariffs also apply to car parts, some of which Tesla imports (as does every automaker), raising its production costs. Musk admitted as much.

"Important to note that Tesla is NOT unscathed here," Musk said of the tariffs in a tweet days before they went into effect. "The cost impact is not trivial."

Ives agrees, but fears that the impact may be more drastic.

"The tariffs in their current form will disrupt Tesla, the overall supply chain, and its global footprint which has been a clear advantage over the years versus rising competitors like BYD," Ives told clients in a note Sunday, as quoted by Bloomberg.

More pressingly, from Tesla's point of view, the fallout from the trade war could see more Chinese consumers — its second largest market — turn to domestic options, Ives argues. The above-mentioned BYD has already overtaken Tesla as the largest EV maker in the world, in terms of sales and revenue. It could now lengthen its lead.

More on Tesla: Elon Musk Breaks Rank, Rages Against Donald Trump's Tariffs

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