SpaceX CEO Elon Musk attends a cabinet meeting held by U.S. President Donald Trump at the White House on March 24, 2025.
Win McNamee | Getty Images
Tesla shares fell almost 6% on Monday, a day ahead of the electric vehicle company’s first-quarter earnings report, as analysts fret over “ongoing brand erosion.”
The stock closed at $227.50 leaving it less than $6 above its low for the year on April 8. The shares are now down 44% for the year after wrapping up their worst quarter since 2022 in March. It’s the 12th time this year the stock has dropped by at least 5% in a single session.
CEO Elon Musk’s many distractions outside of Tesla, especially his role within the Trump administration, are in focus, along with the company’s progress on a long-delayed robotaxi and self-driving technology for its existing cars.
In the online forum that Tesla uses to solicit investor inquiries in advance of its earnings calls, more than 300 questions were submitted pertaining to Tesla’s self-driving systems, around 200 came in about the company’s Optimus humanoid robots in development, and more than 160 questions poured in about Musk individually. One investor asked, “What steps has the board of directors taken to mitigate the brand damage caused by Elon’s political activities?”
After spending $290 million to help return Trump to the White House, Musk is now leading an initiative to slash tens of thousands of federal jobs, sell off or end leases for federal office buildings, and reduce U.S. government capacity.
Musk’s politics and antics have elicited a massive backlash in Europe and parts of the U.S. This year, the company has been hit with waves of protests, boycotts and some criminal activity that targeted Tesla vehicles and facilities in response to Musk.
Earlier this month, Tesla reported 336,681 vehicle deliveries in the first quarter, a 13% decline from the same period a year earlier.
The company is expected to report revenue of $21.24 billion for the first quarter, according to LSEG, which would mark a slight drop from the same period last year. Analysts expect earnings per share of 40 cents. Investors will be paying particularly close attention to any commentary about Trump’s widespread tariffs and the potential impact on revenue and earnings as the year progresses.
Oppenheimer analysts wrote in a note out Monday that “ongoing brand erosion” for Tesla in the U.S. and Europe is weighing on sales already, but a “bigger issue for the company is potential weakness in China demand and margin impact due to the Trump tariffs.”
They wrote that competition in China, coupled with “nationalistic” consumer trends there, could “drive sales toward domestic brands.” Tesla would then have to export more of its China-made cars, which could lead to “downward pressure on pricing,” the Oppenheimer analysts said.
Caliber, a research firm that tracks how U.S. consumer sentiment is shifting around major brands, found that only 27% of its survey respondents in March would consider purchasing a Tesla, compared to 46% in January 2022.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives, a longtime Tesla bull, is hoping for a “turnaround vision” from Musk on Tuesday’s earnings call.
“Tesla has now unfortunately become a political symbol globally of the Trump Administration/DOGE,” he wrote, noting that “Tesla’s stock has been crushed since Trump stepped back into the White House.”
Ives estimated 15% to 20% “permanent demand destruction for future Tesla buyers due to the brand damage Musk has created” by working for Trump.
Late last week, Barclays maintained the equivalent of a sell rating and slashed its price target on Tesla to $275 from $325, citing a “confusing set-up” on the first-quarter with “weak fundamentals.” The firm said it could see a positive reaction if Musk is more focused on his automaker, and depending on what the company discloses about an anticipated “FSD event,” referring to Tesla’s Full Self-Driving offering.
Tesla said in announcing its reporting date that, in addition to earnings, it will provide a “live company update,” language the company hasn’t typically used in disclosures.
Apple stock is getting its groove back as naysayers are proved wrong about the iPhone upgrade cycle. That means opportunity. Shares surged to an all-time intraday high Monday following a slew of positive commentary from Wall Street analysts and upbeat demand data for the newest iPhones. Apple was on pace to take out its Dec. 26, 2024 record-high close of $259. “People thought the tariffs were going to drive” iPhone prices higher, Jim Cramer during Monday’s Morning Meeting . “People [also] thought there was going to be not enough buying because of Siri. All nonsense.” “The misperception and misconception are overdone, and that’s why it’s a buy,” Jim added. New numbers from Counterpoint indicated the new iPhone 17 lineup has outsold the iPhone 16 models by 14% in the U.S. and China within its first 10 days of availability. Bloomberg first reported the data. “The base model iPhone 17 is very compelling to consumers, offering great value for money,” Counterpoint said. “A better chip, improved display, higher base storage, selfie camera upgrade – all for the same price as last year’s iPhone 16,” Counterpoint analysts added. “Buying this device is a no brainer, especially when you throw channel discounts and coupons into the mix.” For weeks now, Jim has been citing how the new iPhones are a bargain when considering the trade-in value of previous models and the carrier discounts. Counterpoint also said the brand new iPhone Air model has been doing “slightly better than the iPhone 16 Plus.” Preorders for the device in China began on Oct. 17. It sold out almost immediately. The analysts said, “This is a big milestone for Apple and more broadly for eSIM.” The iPhone Air is eSIM only, meaning it does not have the option for a physical SIM card. AAPL YTD mountain Apple (AAPL) year-to-date performance Wall Street analysts also enthusiastically chimed in. Loop Capital upgraded Apple to a buy from a hold. The analysts also hiked their price target to $315 per share from $226 — implying more than 19% upside from session highs of around $264. “While the Street is baking in some degree of outperformance from AAPL’s iPhone 17 family of products, we believe there remains material upside to Street expectations through CY2027,” according to Loop analysts. In this case, “through CY2027” means through calendar year 2027. That distinction is made because Apple’s fiscal year is such that when earnings are out after the bell on Oct. 30, they will be for the company’s fiscal 2025 fourth quarter. Over at Melius Research, analyst Ben Reitzes said Apple is “on a mission to silence its critics,” and that a beat and raise quarter “could be on the horizon.” “Near-term, sales into China are picking up and margins could deliver upside with iPhone 17 Pro Max momentum and lower hits from tariffs. We see shares getting a lift into CY26 and into a Siri/product event in the March 2026 timeframe,” said Reitzes, who has a buy rating and a $290 price target on the stock. “Apple’s Siri update has been delayed,” he said. “But it’s about to get better with significant AI enhancements.” None of this came to a surprise to Jim, who has been touting the benefits of Apple’s new iPhone models long before their September launch. “We’ve been saying the iPhone 17 is unbelievable,” he said on ” Squawk on the Street ” on Monday “Now, everybody’s catching up.” With Monday’s roughly 4.5% surge, shares of Apple were up almost 5.3% year to date. The stock for the first half of 2025 was a total dog on concerns around AI, various regulatory overhangs, and possible higher device costs from President Donald Trump ‘s tariffs. Since August, however, shares have been trending upwards following CEO Tim Cook’s additional $100 billion investment into U.S. manufacturing in order to appease the Trump administration’s call to bring Apple’s supply chain back home. “From the beginning, people underestimated it because they felt that Apple had lost its mojo,” Jim said. Monday’s spate of positive news just reiterates why shares have more room to run and why Jim always says own Apple stock, don’t trade it. To be sure, Apple shares were still underperforming most of its fellow “Magnificent seven” stocks, with the exception of Amazon , which has declined 2% year to date. (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long AAPL, AMZN. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Every weekday the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer holds a “Morning Meeting” livestream at 10:20 a.m. ET. Here’s a recap of Monday’s key moments. 1. Stocks are starting the week off on a positive note with every sector except consumer staples in the green. As stocks extend last week’s gains, Jim Cramer is closely watching the 10-year Treasury yield, which hovered at 4% Monday. He called the move “incredibly positive” because there are so many stocks that yield more than this. “It makes it so you want to buy stocks,” he added. Jim also reflected on his recent trip to San Francisco where he met with a range of CEOs to get fresh insights on artificial intelligence, the stock market and broader economic trends. He shared his top 10 takeaways from those meetings with Investing Club members in his Sunday column. 2. Boeing shares climbed more than 1% on Monday after the company officially got the green light late Friday to raise its monthly production of the 737 MAX to 42, up from 38. While reports last month hinted at the move, this marks official approval, paving the way for more monthly deliveries and stronger free cash flow. When Boeing reports earnings next week the one thing we’re looking out for is what the non-cash charge will be for the 777x program, the company’s next generation, long-haul jet designed to be the largest two-engine jet ever built. “This is a cashflow story and they have been losing money consistently for years now, and now it’s time to play offense,” Jim said. 3. “2026 is going to be a very good year” for Starbucks , said Jim, following his interview last week with CEO Brian Niccol on the company’s turnaround. Shares of the coffee giant were one of the big gainers in the market last week. The stock was up 8.7% after closing at a 52-week low on Oct. 10. Morgan Stanley is also feeling confident, increasing its price target on Starbucks stock to $105 from $103 Monday. Analysts said the upcoming quarter will likely show negative comps in its core North America business and is unlikely to mark a major step forward. But changes from the Green Apron service model (Starbucks’ new hospitality-focused initiative focused on enhancing the customer experience), restructuring, and new coffee products could set up a better 2026. Jim came away from the Niccol interview feeling optimistic about the company’s trajectory, especially hearing the value of the company’s China business is worth north of $10 billion , much higher than previously thought. “I think you buy the stock, and you buy it today,” Jim said. 4. Stocks covered in Monday’s rapid fire at the end of the video were: Skyworks Solutions , Marvell Technology , Darden Restaurants , Cleveland Cliffs , and Prologis . (Jim Cramer’s Charitable Trust is long BA, SBUX. See here for a full list of the stocks.) As a subscriber to the CNBC Investing Club with Jim Cramer, you will receive a trade alert before Jim makes a trade. Jim waits 45 minutes after sending a trade alert before buying or selling a stock in his charitable trust’s portfolio. If Jim has talked about a stock on CNBC TV, he waits 72 hours after issuing the trade alert before executing the trade. THE ABOVE INVESTING CLUB INFORMATION IS SUBJECT TO OUR TERMS AND CONDITIONS AND PRIVACY POLICY , TOGETHER WITH OUR DISCLAIMER . NO FIDUCIARY OBLIGATION OR DUTY EXISTS, OR IS CREATED, BY VIRTUE OF YOUR RECEIPT OF ANY INFORMATION PROVIDED IN CONNECTION WITH THE INVESTING CLUB. NO SPECIFIC OUTCOME OR PROFIT IS GUARANTEED.
Dario Amodei, Anthropic CEO, speaking on CNBC’s Squawk Box outside the World Economic Forum in Davos, Switzerland on Jan. 21st, 2025.
Gerry Miller | CNBC
Anthropic on Monday announced Claude for Life Sciences, a new offering for researchers to use the company’s artificial intelligence technology in the advancement of scientific discovery.
Claude for Life Sciences is built around Anthropic’s existing AI models, but supports new connections with other scientific tools that are commonly used in labs during research and development.
It will be able to help researchers through all stages of the discovery process, from carrying out literature reviews to developing hypotheses, analyzing data, drafting regulatory submissions and more, Anthropic said.
The launch of Claude for Life Sciences marks Anthropic’s first formal entry into the sector, and comes just months after the company hired longtime industry executive Eric Kauderer-Abrams as its head of biology and life sciences.
“Now is the threshold moment for us where we’ve decided this is a big investment area,” Kauderer-Abrams told CNBC in an interview. “We want a meaningful percentage of all of the life science work in the world to run on Claude, in the same way that that happens today with coding.”
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Anthropic, which is one of the companies at the center of the AI boom, develops a family of large language models called Claude. It was founded in 2021 by a group of former OpenAI executives and researchers, and its valuation has swelled to $183 billion in just four years.
The company launched a new model, Claude Sonnet 4.5, late last month and said it is “significantly better” at life sciences tasks like understanding laboratory protocols.
Kauderer-Abrams said researchers have already been engaging with Anthropic’s models to help with isolated parts of the scientific process, so the company decided to formally build out Claude for Life Sciences as a way to support them from start to finish.
That meant Anthropic had to establish integrations with key players in the life sciences ecosystem, including Benchling, PubMed, 10x Genomics and Synapse.org, among others. Anthropic has also partnered with companies that can help life sciences organizations adopt AI, like Caylent, KPMG, Deloitte, and cloud providers AWS and Google Cloud, the company said.
“We’re willing and enthusiastic about doing that grind to make sure that all the pieces come together,” Kauderer-Abrams said.
In a prerecorded demo, Anthropic showed how a scientist working on preclinical studies could use Claude for Life Sciences to compare two study designs that test different dosing strategies.
The scientist was able to query her lab’s data directly from Benchling, generate a summary and tables of key differences with links back to the original material. After reviewing the results, the scientist generated a study report that could be included in a regulatory submission.
Anthropic said an analysis like this used to require “days” of validating and compiling information, but now, it can be done in minutes.
Kauderer-Abrams said the company believes AI can bring about real efficiency gains for the life sciences sector, but it’s also under “no illusions” that it will magically overcome the physical limitations of conducting scientific research. Clinical trials that take three years are not suddenly going to take one month, he said.
Instead, Anthropic is focused on exploring the time-consuming, expensive parts of the discovery process “piece by piece” to determine where AI could be most useful.
“We’re here to make sure that this transformation happens and that it’s done responsibly,” Kauderer-Abrams said.