Tesla CEO Elon Musk met with Fox Business' Larry Kudlow on Monday and investors, already reeling from stock declines, probably won't like what they heard.
The two men talked about savings and the goals of President Donald Trump's newly created Department of Government Efficiency, which Musk directs. The conversation also turned to Musk's businesses and how he is running them.
"With great difficulty," answered Musk, adding he is likely to spend another year in Washington, D.C., on DOGE business.
That could unnerve Tesla investors, who constantly worry that Musk has too much to do. Along with Tesla and DOGE, he runs X, xAI, SpaceX, The Boring Company, and Neuralink.
Coming into 2025, none of the non-Tesla activities seemed to have dented the stock. Tesla shares traded above $480 apiece in mid-December.
Now it appears Musk may have hit his limit and investors seem nervous. Tesla shares are set up for their worst two-month stretch ever. Through Monday trading, the stock was down about 45% in February and March. Shares fell about 46% in November and December 2022, just after Musk closed on his acquisition of X.
The X acquisition was another period of peak investor fear about Musk-distraction.
Tesla Motors stock plunged 15.4% on Monday to $222.15. The S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 2.7% and 2.1%, respectively. Trump's interview on Sunday with Maria Bartiromo, in which he didn't rule out a 2025 recession as a possibility, hurt most stocks.
Still, the plunge left Tesla stock down 12% since the election and 7% since the company's Oct. 10 robotaxi event, where it unveiled plans to start a self-driving taxi service this year.
Tesla investors want Musk to be engaged at the car company, ensuring robotaxi service starts on schedule. They would also like Musk to work on a lower-priced Tesla model due out midyear. The car, which Wall Street typically calls the Model 2, is supposed to help jump-start growth.
Tesla delivered 1.8 million cars in 2024, flat with 2023. Analysts project two million sales in 2025, but estimates have been moving lower. UBS analyst Joseph Spak cut his 2025 delivery estimate to 1.7 million units on Monday, citing Tesla's slow start to the year.
Tesla stock will likely struggle as long as Wall Street's sales estimates move lower. If the first quarter delivery result disappoints, investors' cries to have Musk re-engage at Tesla will only grow louder.