Tesla profit plunges in latest quarter as Musk’s turn to politics continues to keep buyers away

NEW YORK (AP) – The fallout from Elon Musk’s plunge into politics a year ago is still hammering his Tesla business as both sales and profits dropped sharply again in the latest quarter.

The car company that has faced boycotts for months said Wednesday that revenue dropped 12% and profits slumped 16% in the three months through June as buyers continued to stay away.

Quarterly profits at the electric vehicle, battery and robotics company fell to $1.17 billion, or 33 cents a share, from $1.4 billion, or 40 cents a share. That was the third quarter in a row that profit dropped.

Revenue fell from $25.5 billion to $22.5 billion in the April through June period, slightly above Wall Street’s forecast.