Tesla profit falls sharply amid backlash over Musk role in Trump administration

Elon Musk (Jose Luis Magana/AP)

Tesla’s first-quarter profits plunged by more than two-thirds amid a backlash against Elon Musk’s electric car company which has damaged sales and sent its stock plunging.

The Texas-based company said quarterly profits fell by 70% to to 409 million dollars, or 12 cents a share – far below analyst estimates. Tesla’s revenue fell 9% to 19.3 billion dollars in the January-March period, also below Wall Street’s forecast.