Welcome to the Daily 5 report for Monday, April 21.
Even Tesla Inc.'s biggest fans on Wall Street are getting nervous today as Elon Musk's core wealth builder prepares to report first-quarter earnings on Tuesday — and shares continue their downward spiral.
Analyst Dan Ives, a longtime Tesla bull, even called on Musk to vacate his role with President Donald Trump's Department of Government Efficiency, better known as DOGE.
"Musk needs to leave the government, take a major step back on DOGE, and get back to being CEO of Tesla full-time," Ives wrote in a report to clients Sunday. "Tesla is Musk and Musk is Tesla ... and anyone that thinks the brand damage Musk has inflicted is not a real thing, spend some time speaking to car buyers in the U.S., Europe, and Asia. You will think differently after those discussions."
Read more: Live updates on tariff news and impacts
Interactive map: Auto manufacturing sites in Canada, the U.S. and Mexico
Following news of Ives' report, Tesla shares fell 5.75 to close at $227.50 today.
But Tesla investors can still take solace that the company's earnings performance will continue to be subsidized by a regulatory creation of the green lobby: the sale of emissions credits to legacy automakers. It's not a stretch to conclude these compliance credits historically allowed Tesla to survive and later thrive.
In 2024, Tesla generated nearly $2.8 billion in revenue from the credits — up 36 percent from 2023, according to its annual 10-K report. In the fourth quarter of 2024 alone, it collected $692 million from the credits.
It's anyone guess if Congress will move legislation to end these credits. Even if it did, would the White House veto it? Until then, Tesla's cash pipeline from these credits will continue unabated.
We will have full coverage of Tesla's first-quarter report later tomorrow afternoon.
In other news today, we published the Automotive News list of the Top 100 dealership groups in used-vehicle sales. You can click here to see who made the 2025 list and read our analysis.
Also, this story by Michael Martinez gives you the clearest look yet at the impact of tariffs on retail new-vehicle prices.
While most other brands so far have held the line in spite of the 25 percent tariffs, J.D. Power expects the average new-vehicle price will increase about 5 percent by year-end, Martinez wrote. The uncertainty about prices is fueling a decline in consumer sentiment, said Patrick Manzi, the National Automobile Dealers Association's chief economist, which means the strength seen in the U.S. new-vehicle market in the first quarter might not last.
Meanwhile, two eye-openers emerged today in the world of electric vehicles.
Contemporary Amperex Technology Co., or CATL — the world's biggest producer of batteries for EVs — unveiled the latest versions of its cells, playing up the durability and range of its products as the perceived limits of EVs still stop many consumers from making the switch, Bloomberg reported.
From Saudi Arabia, oil giant Aramco signed a joint development agreement with Chinese EV manufacturer BYD to explore collaboration in the development of new energy vehicle technologies, Aramco said today in this story by Reuters.
That's it for now. Have a great rest of your day.
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— Philip Nussel, online editor
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