Tesla CEO Elon Musk Calls Stay at Home Orders “Fascist”

Electric vehicle maker Tesla reported its first quarter financial results on Wednesday that included a $16 million profit.

Shares of the stock jumped over 9% in extended hours as this is now the third consecutive quarter for the company to see a profit.

For the quarter, Tesla reported earnings per share of $1.24, excluding items. Revenue was $5.99 billion. Wall Street had been expecting an adjusted loss of 36 cents and revenue of $5.9 billion according to a survey of analysts by Refinitiv.

Tesla also recorded negative free cash flow of $895 million however, which will complicate its previously stated goal of being free cash-flow positive for 2020.

The company said that while it has “capacity installed” to hit 500,000 vehicle deliveries in 2020, it remains uncertain how quickly its U.S. car plant, and suppliers, can ramp up production following Covid-19 restrictions. The company’s near-term profit guidance is “currently on hold.”

On the earnings call CEO Elon Musk called the Bay Area’s shelter-in-place orders as “unconstitutional” and “fascism.”

“I think we are a bit worried about not being able to resume production in the Bay Area and that should be identified as a serious risk. We only have two car factories now, one in Shanghai and one in the Bay Area,” said Musk.

At one point he asked, “What the f–k?”

“I think people are going to be very angry about this and are very angry. It’s like somebody wants to stay in the house? That’s great, they should be allowed to stay in the house, and they should not be compelled to leave. But to say that they cannot leave their house, and they will be arrested if they do, this is fascist. This is not democratic. This is not freedom. Give people back their goddamn freedom.”

Disclaimer: We have no position in Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) and have not been compensated for this article.