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Inside the $1 billion berry startup backed by Ray Dalio’s family office

Berry unicorn startup Fruitist has surpassed $400 million in annual sales, thanks to the success of its long-lasting jumbo blueberries.

The company, which was founded in 2012, announced on Tuesday that it is changing its name from Agrovision to Fruitist. It previously only used the name for branding its consumer products, which also include raspberries, blackberries and blueberries.

As sales of its berries grow, Fruitist has raised more than $600 million in venture capital, according to Pitchbook data. Notable backers include the family office of Bridgewater Associates founder Ray Dalio.

Fruitist is reportedly considering going public as soon as this year, even as global trade conflicts hit stocks and raise fears about a global economic slowdown.

The company has tried to set itself apart in a crowded space in part by positioning its berries as “snackable.” The snacking category has been one of the fastest growing in the food industry in recent years.

While many consumers still enjoy potato chips and pretzels, many big food companies have expanded their portfolios in recent years to include healthier options. The adoption of GLP-1 drugs and the “Make America Healthy Again” agenda pushed by Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have made healthier snacking options even more attractive to both consumers and investors.

Today, Fruitist’s berries can be found in more than 12,500 North American retailers, including Costco, Walmart and Whole Foods. Sales of its jumbo blueberries alone have tripled in the last 12 months, fueling the company’s growth.

Co-founder and CEO Steve Magami told CNBC that Fruitist was created to solve the problem of “berry roulette.” That’s what he calls the uneven quality of grocery store berries, which he blames on the business model of legacy produce players.

“You have a bunch of small growers that send their product to a packer, and the packer sends the product to a distributor or an importer, and then that player is either selling to the retailers or they are sending the product to another distributor to then sell to retailers,” Magami said. “You have this disjointed value chain that stifles quality.”

To sell more berries of higher consistent quality, the company grows its fruit in microclimates, with its own farms in Oregon, Morocco, Egypt and Mexico. It also uses machine learning models to predict the best time to pick the fruit. Fruitist invested heavily in infrastructure, like on-site cold storage to keep the berries fresh before they ship.

The company’s vertically integrated supply chain means that its berries should last longer than the competition.

“I’ve intentionally let them sit in my refrigerator for three weeks, and they’re still great after three weeks,” Magami said.

Larger berries, like the company’s non-genetically modified jumbo blueberries that are two to three times the size of a regular blueberry, also have a longer shelf life.

Looking ahead, Fruitist is planning to expand into cherries. The company is growing them now on its Chilean farms and plans to start shipping them next season, which means they could land in grocery stores by early 2026.

Magami said the company has invested more than $600 million to farm berries year-round and build a global footprint that spans North America, Europe, the Middle East and Asia.

To date, Fruitist has spent little of the funding it has raised on marketing, although that’s set to change. In February, Major League Soccer team D.C. United announced a multiyear deal with the company, including an exclusive sleeve patch partnership.

One push for public recognition could come in the form of an initial public offering.

In January, Bloomberg reported that the company was weighing going public as soon as June. Magami declined to comment on the report to CNBC.

If Fruitist decides to go public, it will enter a public market that has yielded mixed results for new stocks in recent years.

Produce giant Dole returned to the public markets in 2021. Shares of the company have risen 14% over the last year, outpacing the S&P 500′s gains of 2% over the same period. Dole, which reported annual revenue of $8.5 billion last year, has a market value of $1.3 billion.

However, market turmoil caused by the White House’s trade wars have led a number of companies, like Klarna and StubHub, to delay their plans to go public. But investors are interested in consumer companies with strong growth; shares of Chinese tea chain Chagee climbed 15% in the company’s public market debut on Thursday.

Trade tensions present other challenges for a global produce company. President Donald Trump has temporarily lowered new tariff rates on imports from most countries to just 10% until early July, but it’s unclear what could happen after that deadline. India, where Fruitist owns nearly 50 acres to grow blueberries, is facing a 26% duty, for example.

Still, Magami said the company is anticipating “minimal impact” from the duties, noting that it has been investing in U.S. production for years.

“We’re optimistic about how this will play out,” he said. “We don’t import to compete with the domestic supply, we import to actually provide 52 weeks.”

Luckily for Fruitist, the tariff rates are set to rise when domestic berries are in season.

CORRECTION (April 23, 2025, 9:08 a.m. ET): An earlier version of this article misstated Dole’s revenue last year. It was $8.5 billion, not $2.2 billion.

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PWHL adds Vancouver as first expansion team

The PWHL is getting bigger and going west.

Vancouver will be the Professional Women’s Hockey League’s first expansion team, beginning play next season. The still-to-be-named team will join the PWHL’s original six franchises in Boston, Minnesota, Montreal, New York, Ottawa and Toronto. It will play at the renovated Pacific Coliseum, the original home of the Vancouver Canucks and a venue during the 2010 Olympics in Vancouver.

‘This is an incredibly exciting moment for Vancouver and for the future of professional women’s sports in our city,” Vancouver mayor Ken Sim said in the statement announcing the new team.

‘The passion for women’s hockey is growing, and today’s announcement shows that Vancouver is ready to lead that charge on the West Coast.” 

The PWHL began play last year, and it quickly became obvious there was room for growth. It’s already passed the 1 million mark in total attendance, and has repeatedly set single-game records for women’s hockey in the United States. Its ‘Takeover Tour’ – games played in potential expansion cities – was wildly successful, drawing 123,601 fans to the nine games.

That included a sell-out crowd of 19,038 for a Jan. 8 game at Rogers Arena in Vancouver, which was the fourth-largest crowd in the PWHL’s history.

‘Vancouver is a vibrant city with a deep love for the game — as we saw firsthand during the PWHL Takeover Tour earlier this season,’ said Amy Scheer, the PWHL’s executive vice president of business operations. “Expanding to Vancouver reflects the growing momentum behind the league and the incredible passion of our fanbase since launching in January 2024.’

Details on an expansion draft, as well as how Vancouver will be included in the league’s June 24 draft, are still to be announced.

The USA TODAY app gets you to the heart of the news — fast. Download for award-winning coverage, crosswords, audio storytelling, the eNewspaper and more.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Politics

Nuclear watchdog urges ‘trust but verify’ that Iran engages in good-faith negotiations

Much remains unknown regarding the progress of Washington’s nuclear talks with Iran, but the head of the U.N. nuclear watchdog, the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), said the international community must ‘trust but verify’ that Tehran is engaging in good-faith negotiations. 

The U.S. and Iran are set to hold a third round of discussions on Saturday, which will deal with the technical aspects of Iran’s nuclear program, as well as political negotiations, according to reports. 

IAEA Director General Rafael Grossi has applauded the U.S.-Iran negotiations mediated by Oman, but said the top nuclear agency has not yet been asked to assist in the negotiations, though he has been in communication with Middle East envoy Steve Witkoff. 

‘I think there’s a general expectation that this goes well, and that the agreement is verified by the IAEA,’ Grossi told reporters from Washington, D.C., on Wednesday. ‘It’s good the United States and Iran have a direct conversation. Of course, there are parallel processes.

‘We have to keep our eyes on the ball. We must avoid Iran or prevent Iran from getting weapons. This is the objective.’

Grossi said that from the perspective of not only the top nuclear agency, but from world leaders he has been in communication with, there is a ‘degree of expectation’ that after the political agreements are hashed out between Washington and Tehran, it will be the IAEA that makes the nuclear terms ‘credible’ and ‘verifiable.’

‘They all are expecting the IAEA to step in at the right time,’ he said. ‘We are at their service to support, to make this thing credible. In a certain sense, they may have a political agreement, but then we have to make it verifiable.’ 

Fox News Digital obtained a copy of an address Iranian Foreign Minister Abbas Araghchi — who traveled to China on Wednesday to reportedly discuss progress in the nuclear negotiations — was set to give at the Carnegie International Nuclear Policy Conference, though he never delivered the address due to format change requests by Tehran that were denied by the host. 

But in his address, he was set to position Iran as a proponent of nuclear non-proliferation and said Iran’s position had been ‘mischaracterized.’

Since the U.S.’ withdrawal from the Joint Comprehensive Plan of Action (JCPOA), which Tehran has argued made the deal mute, Iran has significantly advanced its programs by stockpiling near-weapons-grade-enriched uranium to levels that, if further enriched, could produce five nuclear warheads, as well as its centrifuges and missile capabilities. 

When asked by Fox News Digital if Grossi assessed the Islamic Republic’s position to be honest, he said, ‘Trust, but verify. We need to verify.’

‘We are inspectors — that’s the only way we build trust,’ he added. 

Grossi said the administration needs to identify what the end goals of this latest deal will be, as the framework of the JCPOA — widely criticized by Trump — is now very dated due to the advancements Iran has made. 

Issues like uranium stockpiles, inventories, centrifuge advances and weaponization capabilities are all on the table in the U.S.-Iran negotiations. 

‘We have a much more complex field in front of us,’ Grossi warned. ‘The good thing is we know what we need to look at. We have a unique perspective of that.’ 

This post appeared first on FOX NEWS
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Pair of 2024 NFL playoff teams to meet in Hall of Fame Game

The Detroit Lions will take on the Los Angeles Chargers in the annual Hall of Fame Game, the NFL announced Wednesday.

The game will kick off Enshrinement Week this summer in Canton, Ohio, and will take place at Tom Benson Hall of Fame Stadium on July 31, with TV coverage on NBC.

‘This game features two teams that can be considered legitimate contenders to reach Super Bowl LX next February,” Pro Football Hall of Fame president and CEO Jim Porter said in a statement. ‘For them to face each other right out of the gate in Canton, Ohio, should create a dynamic opening to another spectacular NFL season.’

Class of 2025 member Antonio Gates spent his entire career from 2003 to 2018 with the Chargers. He and fellow class members Eric Allen, Jared Allen and Sterling Sharpe will be recognized on the field before the game kicks off.

This will be the fourth trip to Canton for the Lions and third for the Chargers. But neither team has appeared in the Hall of Fame Game since the 1990s.

The Lions went 15-2 in the regular season last year, earning the NFC’s No. 1 seed before they were upended in the divisional playoffs by the Washington Commanders. The Chargers finished 11-6 and earned a playoff spot in the AFC, but were defeated in the wild card round by the Houston Texans.

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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JJ Redick got LeBron, Luka, Lakers to respond with Game 2 win

Game 2 of the Los Angeles Lakers-Minnesota Timberwolves NBA playoff series was not a referendum on Lakers coach JJ Redick.

A loss would not have been any indicator of Redick’s future success as an NBA coach.

But another home loss and a 2-0 series deficit with Games 3 and 4 in Minneapolis would have ratcheted the pressure on the first-time NBA coach.

That’s the way the playoffs work. Redick knows that, and he avoided that scenario as the Lakers won Game 2, 94-85, and evened the best-of-seven series at 1-1.

After almost every playoff game, it’s on the losing coach/team to make adjustments for the next game based on what happened in the previous game.

Former NBA coach and TNT analyst Stan Van Gundy often said the biggest game-to-game playoff adjustment was “play harder.” Set forceful screens. Sprint to your spot. Hustle back on defense.

Even pros lose focus. You can talk scheme – and that is important – but sometimes playing with a greater purpose for more possessions is the answer.

The Lakers did that in Game 2.

“We were physical,” Redick said. “The playoffs require a different level, and like I said pregame, it took us 2½ quarters in Game 1 to get to that level of physicality.”

It wasn’t the prettiest performance. The Lakers didn’t reach 100 points for the second consecutive game, but they held the Timberwolves to a season-low in points, and after Minnesota torched the Lakers for 21 3s (a franchise playoff-record) in Game 1, it made just five 3s in Game 2.

As much as the NBA is considered a players’ league, coaches matter. (It helps Redick that two of his assistant coaches are longtime former NBA head coaches in Scott Brook and Nate McMillan). Coaches need to show players where they can be more physical and where greater effort is necessary. They need to study video with their staff, and counter what worked for the opponent.

Of course Redick made adjustments. Before Game 2, he said, “Not giving away our adjustments. Got to play harder.”

As Game 2 unfolded, Redick had more actions for LeBron James, Luka Doncic and Austin Reaves, trying to create mismatches and better scoring opportunities. Even though James and Doncic scored more combined points in Game 1 (56) than they did in Game 2 (52), they were better offensively.

They had just four assists between them in Game 1, including just one from Doncic. They matched that total in the first quarter of Game 2 and finished with a combined 16 assists. Doncic was one assist from a triple-double, and his passing was superb especially in the paint. Reaves scored 16 points – same as Game 1 – but he was more active and missed a few shots that he normally makes.

Redick loves the strategic part of the game. You can tell that by listening to him – whether it was on his podcast or in interviews this season as Lakers coach.

Now, it’s Timberwolves coach Chris Finch’s turn to tinker. He just doesn’t have those same Hollywood lights shining on him.

Follow NBA columnist Jeff Zillgitt on social media @JeffZillgitt

This post appeared first on USA TODAY
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Politics

Supreme Court likely to side with parents in letting them opt out of LGBTQ storybooks, expert says

Several Supreme Court justices signaled sympathy Tuesday toward Maryland parents who are seeking to opt their children out of LGBTQ-themed classroom materials. One education expert said the case could lead to a ruling that expands parental rights in public schools nationwide. 

‘This looks pretty promising for the parent petitioners in this case,’ said Sarah Parshall Perry, vice president and legal fellow of the grassroots organization Defending Education. ‘I heard a lot of very aggressive questioning from the three liberal justices, but no matter how you slice this apple, it looks to be a very clear violation of the First Amendment, as exercised through the 14th Amendment’s right to direct a child’s religious upbringing.’

Perry previously served as the lead lawyer to the Assistant Secretary for Civil Rights at the U.S. Department of Education from 2020 to 2021, where she drafted the Office for Civil Rights’ (OCR) annual report to Congress.

‘They’re very malleable,’ Perry said of the 4-and 5-year-olds in the case. ‘They’re very much shaped by their environment, by what they’re exposed to, and they don’t have the meaningful agency to be able to opt out or object or push back. And so these individuals are learning their own familial values while being exposed to material that is, as Justice [Amy Coney] Barrett and Justice [Neil] Gorsuch pointed out, designed to influence their thinking.’

At the heart of Mahmoud v. Taylor is a lawsuit brought by religious parents—Muslim, Roman Catholic, and Ukrainian Orthodox—who argue that the school district’s policy violates their First Amendment rights by forcing their children to engage with instruction that contradicts their faith.

The Fourth Circuit Court, a federal appeals court, ruled last year that there was no violation of religious exercise rights, stating that the policy did not force parents to change their religious beliefs or conduct and that parents could still teach their children outside of school.

Several conservative justices, including Clarence Thomas and Samuel Alito, appeared sympathetic to the parents’ concerns during the two-and-a-half-hour oral debate. Alito questioned the moral messages conveyed by books like ‘Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,’ suggesting that such content might conflict with deeply held religious beliefs. Justice Brett Kavanaugh also pressed the school district’s attorneys on why opt-out provisions, similar to those in sex education, could not be extended to these storybooks.

Meanwhile, the liberal justices argued that mere exposure to these books may not constitute coercion or a violation of religious freedoms. The school district contended that the policy promotes inclusivity and exposure to LGBTQ viewpoints does not equate to forced belief changes.

‘I think it was highly sort of predictable,’ Perry said of the liberal justices’ arguments. ‘They are trying to prove that there is going to be too much of a burden on the school district to allow these children to opt out because the consequences could, for example, be catastrophic for the ability of a public school to manage its own affairs.’

‘The reason we see an issue like this at the Supreme Court is because these are issues directly related to religious liberty and directly related to the very early cognitive stages of development for minor children,’ Perry said. ‘And it’s very clear … that a burden of religious liberty within public education has to be treated quite seriously by the court and deference must be given to religious parents if the burden is very clear.’

‘I think in this instance, it is indeed crystal clear,’ she added. 

Among the storybooks at the center of the case is ‘Prince & Knight,’ a modern fairy tale aimed at children ages 4 to 8, which tells the story of two men who fall in love after joining forces to defeat a dragon and later marry. Another book frequently referenced during oral arguments was ‘Uncle Bobby’s Wedding,’ which follows a young girl processing her favorite uncle’s decision to marry another man.

‘Because parental rights have become sort of the cultural zeitgeist for where we are in this political day and age, I think we are certain to see more litigation, not less, and more pushback,’ Perry said. 

The Supreme Court is expected to issue a ruling in the case by late June.

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Trump unfurls plans for double 100-foot flagpoles during White House lawn walk

President Donald Trump on Wednesday revealed plans to install two ‘beautiful’ 100-foot flagpoles on the White House lawns that will each fly an American flag.

Trump told reporters about the plans after he was spotted touring the North Lawn of the White House with Dale Haney, head White House groundskeeper.

‘We’re putting up a beautiful, almost 100-foot-tall American flag,’ Trump said, adding that the two flagpoles will be ‘top of the line.’

‘And they’ve needed flagpoles for 200 years,’ Trump told reporters. ‘It was something I’ve often said. You know, they don’t have a flagpole, per se. So we’re putting one right where you saw us, and we’re putting another one on the side on top of the mounds. It’s going to be two beautiful poles.’

The president noted that the flagpoles will be ‘paid for by Trump,’ and should arrive at the White House in about a week.

The White House currently flies an American flag from a flagpole on its rooftop. The flag is always flown there, no matter the president’s location. 

The POW/MIA flag has also been flown at the White House since 2019. 

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How to watch Messi, Inter Miami vs. Vancouver in Champions Cup semis

Lionel Messi is three matches away from hoisting another trophy.

Inter Miami and the Vancouver Whitecaps – two of the best Major League Soccer teams during the early part of the 2025 season – will compete in the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals on April 24 and April 30.  

Vancouver leads the MLS Supporter’s Shield standings with 20 points (six wins, one loss, two draws), while Inter Miami – which won the Shield last season – is third in the MLS Eastern Conference and fourth overall with 18 points (five wins, three draws).

Vancouver will host the first leg of the semifinal at BC Place on April 24, before Inter Miami hosts the second leg at Chase Stadium in Fort Lauderdale, Florida.

LIGA MX clubs Tigres UANL and Cruz Azul will meet in the other semifinal on April 23 and May 1.

The winners of each semifinal will meet in the Concacaf Champions Cup final on June 1.

Here’s everything you need to know about the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinals:

How to watch Champions Cup semifinal matches on TV, live stream?

You can watch the matches on FS1 in English, and TUDN, UniMás or ViX in Spanish.

When are the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal first leg matches?

April 23: Tigres UNAL vs. Cruz Azul, 10 p.m. ET

April 24: Vancouver vs. Inter Miami, 10:30 p.m. ET

When are the Concacaf Champions Cup semifinal second leg matches?

April 30: Inter Miami vs. Vancouver, 8 p.m. ET

May 1: Cruz Azul vs. UANL, 10 p.m. ET

Messi, Inter Miami vs. Vancouver preview

Messi has been scoreless in his last two matches: A 1-0 win vs. Columbus Crew on April 19, and a scoreless draw against Chicago on April 13. But he delivered the dramatics, scoring two goals with an assist on April 9 to help Inter Miami advance past Los Angeles FC 3-2 on aggregate the quarterfinals. Inter Miami also beat Sporting Kansas City and Jamaica Cavalier during this Champions Cup run.

Former USMNT striker Brian White leads Vancouver with 10 goals in 14 matches overall, while new coach Jesper Sørensen’s impact has already been felt. Vancouver has ousted two LIGA MX clubs during its Champions Cup run, with Tristan Blackmon’s tie-breaking goal propelling the Whitecaps against Pumas UNAM in the quarterfinals. They also beat Monterrey in the round of 16, and Costa Rica’s Deportivo Saprissa in the first round.

Tigres UANL vs. Cruz Azul preview

Ángel Sepúlveda is the Champions Cup Golden Boot leader with six goals, while Cruz Azul boasts three former MLS standouts in Mateusz Bogusz (LAFC), Omar Campos (LAFC) and striker Giorgos Giakoumakis (Atlanta United). Cruz Azul ousted Club América in the quarterfinals, the Seattle Sounders in the Round-of-16, and Haiti’s Real Hope in the first round.

Tigres has eliminated Nicaragua’s Real Estelí in the first round, then ousted MLS standout FC Cincinnati in the round-of-16, and the defending champion L.A. Galaxy in the quarterfinals.

When is the Concacaf Champions Cup final?

The Concacaf Champions Cup final will be played on June 1. It will be a single match in the final, instead of the two-match format in earlier rounds.

Concacaf Champions Cup winner gets $5 million prize

The winner of the Concacaf Champions Cup will earn $5 million in financial distributions and prize money. They will also receive a berth to the 2025 FIFA Intercontinental Cup and 2029 FIFA Club World Cup.

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Politics

Palestinian leader demands Hamas release remaining hostages

Palestinian Authority (PA) President Mahmoud Abbas demanded Hamas disarm, relinquish power and release the hostages.

The Palestinian leader said that by letting the hostages go, Hamas would ‘shut down’ Israel’s ‘excuses’ to continue the war that began after the terror group’s massacre on Oct. 7, 2023.

‘The first priority is to stop the war of extermination in Gaza. It must be stopped – hundreds are being killed every day,’ Abbas said, according to the Times of Israel. ‘Why don’t you hand over the hostages?’ 

The Palestinian Authority president also apparently called Hamas ‘sons of dogs’ during his address.

Abbas was speaking at a meeting of the Palestine Liberation Organization (PLO) Central Council, which is expected to select a deputy who could be a successor to the 89-year-old PA president.

This marks the first time since the start of the war in Gaza that Abbas has called on Hamas to transfer its authority to the PA, according to Reuters, but he has done so in the past. 

It is unclear whether Hamas will comply with Abbas’ demand, despite his assertion that it could help end the war and save Palestinian lives in Gaza. Hamas and the PA have been at odds for nearly two decades, since the terror organization seized power in 2006 and pushed the PA out of Gaza.

The international community has pushed for the PA to play a role in a ‘day after’ plan for Gaza, but Israel has not been receptive to this idea.

The Israeli government and the Trump administration have long criticized the PA’s ‘pay for slay’ policy, which Abbas reformed in February of this year. The policy saw payments go to family members of Palestinians who were imprisoned, killed or injured in connection with attacks against Israelis.

‘This is a new fraudulent trick by the Palestinian Authority, which intends to continue making payments to terrorists and their families through other payment channels,’ the Israeli Foreign Ministry said at the time, according to Axios.

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Musk says time commitment to DOGE will ‘drop significantly’ as focus returns to Tesla

Tech billionaire Elon Musk said Tuesday that he will begin dedicating more time to Tesla and less to his work with the Trump administration starting next month, providing a relief to Tesla investors fed up with his political work and signaling a possible shift in power at the White House.

Musk’s comments came on Tesla’s call with investors following the company reporting a sizable drop in first-quarter profit and revenue. The company warned that the political environment along with the Trump administration’s tariff plans were challenges for its business.

‘Starting probably next month, May, my time obligation to DOGE will drop significantly,’ Musk said, referring to his Department of Government Efficiency.

‘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 for as long as it is useful, but starting next month, I’ll be allocating far more of my time to Tesla, now that the major work of establishing the Department of Government Efficiency is done,’ he said.

Musk, the CEO of Tesla, has faced a swell of opposition for his work with President Donald Trump, which has made Tesla a growing target for protests and even vandalism. Musk has acknowledged that his move into politics has hit the company’s stock price.

Tesla — which is increasingly trying to diversify into high-tech products like robots — said profits fell 71% to $409 million, compared with $1.39 billion during the same quarter one year ago.

Shares of Tesla were up about 4% in after-hours trading, though the company has lost 50% of its value from its mid-December peak.

The White House did not immediately respond to a request for comment on Musk’s announcement.

Musk reiterated on the call that he intends to pivot Tesla from its established electric car business into two new products: robotaxis and humanoid robots, two ideas that investors have been skeptical about.

Musk said that Tesla was still on track to begin selling robotaxi rides in Austin, Texas, in June, putting Tesla into head-to-head competition with Google spinoff Waymo, which launched robotaxi rides there in March via the Uber app. 

Tesla, in its written earnings report, said that ‘uncertainty in the automotive and energy markets’ associated with ‘rapidly evolving trade policy,’ along with ‘changing political sentiment,’ could have ‘a meaningful impact on demand for our products in the near-term.’

It also said updates to its best-selling Model Y that affected its availability on the market contributed to the shortfall.

‘We remain committed to expanding our business model to include delivering autonomous robots across multiple form factors and use cases — powered by our real-world AI expertise — to our customers and for use in our factories, as we navigate these headwinds,’ it said.

It said it was not prepared to provide guidance for performance the rest of the year — a decision other companies are also making — because of broad trends that include the impact from tariffs. Tesla has boasted that is ‘the most American-made’ car, but it still faces tariff exposure due to imported parts.

It said it would ‘revisit’ guidance for 2025 in three months.

‘It is difficult to measure the impacts of shifting global trade policy on the automotive and energy supply chains, our cost structure and demand for durable goods and related services,’ Tesla said in the outlook section of its report.

Musk, on the conference call, said he pressed Trump to reverse course on his tariff policy but was not successful.

‘I’m one of many advisers to the president. I’m not the president, but I’ve made my opinion clear to the president,’ he said. ‘I’m an advocate of predictable tariff structures.’

Musk has faced pressure from many sides, including from investors who would like him to pay more attention to the company and from his job in the Trump administration, where he has volunteered to slash government programs.

Musk has kept his CEO roles at Tesla and SpaceX even while he has spent much of his time with President Donald Trump and his Department of Government Efficiency, the group charged with reducing federal spending. 

A CNBC All-America Economic survey released earlier Tuesday underscored the depth of the negative sentiment toward Tesla and Musk: 47% of the public had negative views of the company versus 27% positive, and half had negative views of Musk, compared with 36% who saw him positively.

‘Tesla has become a political symbol around the world,’ Daniel Ives, managing director at Wedbush Securities, said in an interview on CNBC after the earnings report was released.

Ives said the political controversy has hurt Tesla not only by reducing demand for vehicles but also because Tesla has become a target for retaliatory tariffs by other nations, such as China.

The earnings report did not explicitly mention the repeated vandalism against Tesla vehicles or the peaceful protests at its showrooms, instead citing the ‘changing political sentiment’ as a headwind for demand.

A key question for Tesla, Musk and the Trump administration has been how long Musk will remain in his White House position. His job as a “special government employee” is time-limited by law to 130 days during any period of 365 consecutive days, which could put his legally mandated endpoint as early as late May. Musk told Fox News this month that he believed “most” of his work would be done by the deadline. 

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