Tom Hoffman: Tesla Profits Down 71%; Takedown Protests in PVD Continue

"Weekly Tesla Takedown pickets are a great example of the kind of 'easy action' needed to build the foundation of a new mass movement."

On Tuesday, Tesla posted its first quarterly earnings report, covering January through March, the first since the Elon Musk-led Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) began rampaging through the federal government and federally funded independent agencies. Headlines covering the news featured a steep 70% drop in profits from the previously fast-growing automaker and Musk’s announcement that he would be stepping away from DOGE.  

As a participant in the weekly Tesla Takedown pickets in Providence, I have to consider what this news means for the future of this tactic. I can see three reasons to keep these actions going for the foreseeable future: Musk’s actual mealy-mouthed statement, the potential for ongoing movement building, and the still-inflated price of Tesla stock.

What Musk Said

A closer look at the earnings presentation transcript shows that Musk’s plans are more than a little vague and equivocal. Musk:

I think starting probably next month, May, my time allocation to DOGE will drop significantly. I'll have to continue doing it for, I think, probably the remainder of the President's term ...  I think I'll continue to spend a day or two per week on government matters for as long as the President would like me to do so and as long as it is useful. 

I read this as an invitation to keep the pressure on. Otherwise, Musk will spend exactly as much time on DOGE as he feels like it and as long as Trump continues to put up with him.

Movement Building

While Trump and Musk are showing signs of weakness in the polls and courts just 100 days into the administration, getting through the next four years will undoubtedly require a patient and robust political movement.

In a recent interview on the Blood in the Machine Substack, Rutgers labor studies professor Eric Blanc, author of Red State Revolt: The Teachers’ Strike Wave and Working-Class Politics noted that in the successful teachers strikes in 2018, “the movements grew by taking easy actions that could involve the largest number of workers.”  

Weekly Tesla Takedown pickets are a great example of the kind of “easy action” needed to build the foundation of a new mass movement. Show up at 77 Reservoir Avenue in Providence on any Saturday between 11:00 and 1:00 PM, bring a sign, and if you don’t have one, usually someone brings some extras or supplies. While we are picketing the Tesla facility, it is not a particularly confrontational or intense affair. Nonetheless, playing Rhode Island’s part in a national campaign is strategically important.

At these actions, you’ll meet like-minded people from all over the Ocean State and southern Massachusetts. When the weather is good and there are no overlapping big marches or actions, hundreds of people have shown up, making concrete our growing power. When it is a slower day, the deeper conversations in a small group can be just as valuable.

We all know that an even more acute crisis may arise anytime, and we must build the capacity to respond. You can’t go from zero to a general strike in a week. These “easy actions” are part of the preparation.

Tesla’s Stubborn Stock Price

While Tesla reported significant drops in auto sales and profits, Wall Street responded by giving a small boost to the company’s stock price. As of noon on April 24, Tesla’s price-to-earnings ratio (P/E) is at 145. This is a number you only see in relatively new companies that have the potential for huge future growth. Tesla is a well-established, successful player in the traditional auto market, becoming more akin to Toyota (P/E 6.85) or Hyundai (P/E 2.8).

For now, Tesla’s stock price is still based on Musk’s predicted breakthroughs in self-driving technology, sales of future dedicated Cybercabs, and humanoid robots under development. Tesla’s sales will cause the stock price to dip, but investors losing faith in Musk’s promises will cause the stock to drop precipitously, along with his power.

If we can keep the pressure on, Musk’s downfall will eventually come, as Hemingway famously put it, “Gradually, then suddenly.”

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Ongoing protests on Saturdays, 11 - 1, at the Tesla Sales and Service Center at 77 Reservoir Avenue, Providence. Check for updates here.

Tom Hoffman is a teacher and AFT member living in Elmwood and the former editor of RI Common Ground News.