Tesla stock surged again this week, this time by more than 8% to set a new price record of $1,228. If you were Elon Musk, you’re likely already hard at work on a sick new club track to celebrate — but those who’ve bet against it are probably pissed.
Thursday’s Tesla pump not only solidified its position as the world’s most valuable car company, it also meant its chief exec Musk has added $20 billion to his wealth since March.
But it absolutely wrecked the company’s short sellers, who lost $1.33 billion yesterday according to data shared by industry analyst Ihor Dusaniwsky of data firm S3 Partners.
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“Short sellers” borrow shares in what they perceive to be overvalued companies (often through a broker via pension fund). They then sell that borrowed stock right away, and repurchase it when it falls to profit from the difference after returning the shares; the opposite of “buy low, sell high.”
[Read: A look inside Europe’s $7 trillion technology market]
S3’s analysis found Tesla short sellers are down $15.9 billion dollars so far in 2020, during which time $TSLA has risen by more than 180%. Even worse, Dusaniwski estimates that Tesla short sellers have lost a kidney-bruising $30.45 billion since 2010.
Since 2010 I estimate $TSLA short sellers lost -$30.45 billion in net-of-financing mark-to-market losses @elonmusk https://t.co/GHApPSRueN
— Ihor Dusaniwsky (@ihors3) July 2, 2020
Tesla sales are up, and so is its stock
Tesla’s most-recent pump coincided with the company’s release of its quarterly earnings, which revealed it had sold 90,650 electric cars — far exceeding the highest industry estimates of 86,000.
The company also noted that its factory in Fremont, California is back to operating at “pre-pandemic” levels. Tesla’s solid earnings reportedly pushed many analysts to raise their $TSLA price targets.
The impact of Tesla’s stock pumps on the company’s short sellers isn’t lost on Musk, who spent some of Thursday afternoon trolling $TSLA’s bears on Twitter — no doubt fueled by that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with extra billions.
Who wears short shorts? ??
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 2, 2020
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