Elon Musk needs to recommit to Tesla and say he's leaving Trump administration: Wedbush's Dan Ives

Tesla's Q1 numbers out just moments ago. The stock is about flat. Let's bring in Dan Ayes, global head of technology research at Wedbush Securities. He has an outperformed rating on the stock, but also a code red. Dan, margins, not great in this report, inventories, not great. Does it come down to the question of by summer, do they have production of these cheap vehicles and is Elon Musk to full attention? Yeah. I mean, look, let's call it. I mean, this quarter was a disaster. And we, I mean, the delivery quarter, you know, that significantly missed the street. And you look at margins and others. I mean, it's really about going forward in terms of 2Q, 3Q, 4Q, but look, 100 hour overhang per share if Musk stays in government, doge even as an advisory, or leaves. So to me, the most important thing on this call, it's not numbers. It's Musk on the call, committing, recommitting to Tesla as a CEO, and ultimately saying that he is going to leave the Trump administration at, you know, we believe by the end of May. Is your outperform at stake on that issue? Yeah. Look, I think if he stays and he doubles down and recommits, then, then I think it, you know, this starts to become an avalanche that you can't control because the brand damage we've talked about, we think it's about 15, 20% brand damage. And the point is, if we weren't bullish, then we wouldn't care. My whole thing is you're talking about long in the video, one of the best disruptive technology companies in the world. Talk about autonomous, robotics, but the big question here is in terms of that lower cost vehicle that you talked about, like, does that come? They did commit to it in the call, you know, and we'll see it in terms of the press release. Do tariffs impact it? How do tariffs impact ultimately when you look at CyberCab, RoboTaxi, and others? These are the keys as someone that's part of the administration. A couple of things there. The first I'm going to start with is if you've had brand damage to Tesla and that's tied to Elon Musk and how far he's waded into politics, does him coming back full time to Tesla actually help the brand? Well, I believe there'll be brand damage permanently and there's no doubt, but you could contain it. He could recommit. You talk about everything that's going on here in terms of the opportunities around autonomous, lower cost vehicles, CyberCab, everything else. Musk needs to drive that. And I think the reality is that that brand damage will continue to be there, but that'll be contained. If he continues to go down this path over the coming months, years, that's where it starts to go down a very dark path. And that's why we've talked about it, you know, loudly as someone that's a huge supporter of Tesla. You have so much good ahead. But now leaders lead and at the end of the day, Musk needs to lead. Tesla is Musk and Musk is Tesla. How is Tesla directly impacted? I realize there's, you know, knock on effects and, you know, sales effects and retaliation in certain markets, etc. But how is Tesla directly impacted by tariffs? Is it these automaker tariffs? Is it supply chain tariffs? I mean, Musk's companies, Tesla included, are sort of famously vertically integrated and homegrown supply chains. Well, I think the reality is and we've talked about is the view that Tesla or any other U.S. car manufacturer makes has all their parts in the U.S. That's a fairy tale. Right. And the reality is a lot of those parts come from abroad. And when you think about these new vehicles that they're producing, as well as when you look at cyber cab, I mean, it depends on parts that come from China, where the materials come from. And we've talked a lot about that. I mean, where are the raw materials come from? Are they come from New Jersey? They come from China. So the reality is, is that that's why this is very important. Also, what's the hearts and lungs of Tesla? Where's the growth? It's China. Does retaliatory happen? And that's all part of it. Tesla is becoming a political symbol. This is the time for Musk to draw the line in the sand, in my opinion. I think you're saying there's a hundred dollar per share upside if Elon Musk focuses back on Tesla. What's the downside if he doesn't? It's a dark downside if he recommits, because then you start to have something where brand damage becomes worse and worse, retaliatory in terms of China, because ultimately, at the end of the day, Tesla has become a political symbol around the world. So for Musk, this is a fork in the road moment. I mean, I believe, look, there's a lot of important conference calls that he's had. I think it's the most important conference call he's ever had because of the political damage in terms of the brand damage that he's created as part of an administration where the tariffs are hurting Tesla.