Elon Musk and Tesla are facing a “brand tornado crisis moment” and the electric vehicle company's CEO needs to cut back his work for US President Donald Trump to control the damage, one of the biggest supporters of the company said. This comes as Tesla announced the recalling of 46,000 Cybertrucks in the US on Thursday (Mar 20) to fix an exterior panel.

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According to The Guardian, Dan Ives, the managing director at the US financial firm Wedbush and a self-described Tesla “core bull”, said that Musk’s role as the head of the Department of Government Efficiency (DOGE) was damaging the billionaire’s reputation and his business.

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“The brand damage started off as limited in our view based on our initial survey work … but now has spread globally over the last few weeks into what we would characterise as a brand tornado crisis moment for Musk and Tesla,” Ives wrote in a note to investors, as per The Guardian report.

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As Musk’s DOGE has been on a crackdown to cut federal jobs and spending, a US judge on Tuesday (Mar 18) ruled that shutting down the Agency for International Development has likely violated the constitution.

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Tesla’s dropping shares amid protests

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Tesla shares have significantly suffered, losing a third of their value over the last month as several investors have raised concerns amid the widespread protests and vandalism incidents at the company’s showrooms across the country.

Ives said the protests are evidence of a “massive overhang for Tesla’s stock”, adding that Musk faced a “moment of truth” and needed to act.

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“Tesla and Musk are facing a defining chapter in their future and how Musk handles this next few months will be pivotal to the long term growth trajectory of Tesla in our view. Tesla is Musk and Musk is Tesla … they are synonymous and attached together and cannot be separated,” he wrote.

To stop the crisis, Ives said that Musk needed to officially announce that he was going to balance running DOGE while being Tesla’s CEO to “dissipate” the heat around the company and ensure the damage is not permanent.

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“Investors need to see Musk take a step back and balance his DOGE and Tesla CEO roles,” he said.

(With inputs from agencies)