New York, Apr 23 (AP) Elon Musk says he'll dedicate more time to Tesla starting in May after the company reported a big drop in first-quarter profit.

The company has faced a backlash faced angry protests over Musk's leadership of a federal government jobs-cutting group that has divided the country.

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The Austin, Texas, company said Tuesday that quarterly profits fell by 71 per cent to to USD 409 million, or 12 cents a share. That's far below analyst estimates. Tesla's revenue fell 9 per cent to USD 19.3 billion in the January through March period, below Wall Street's forecast.

Tesla' stock has fallen more than 40 per cent this year but rose slightly in after-hours trading. (AP)

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