Tesla Short Reverses Course: Automaker Too Compelling To Ignore

Oh, look, a flying pig!

Citron made its fortune by betting against companies, shorting their stocks. Basically, they look for signs of weakness and place bets that their share price will fall. They are a long time trader of Tesla shares and have released a number of notes in the past about their bets against the automaker. Today, though, just after the Silicon Valley company announced it will release its financial earnings on Wednesday (which was rather short notice), Citron published a 9-page note (see gallery below) saying it has reversed its position for the moment and is now long. If you were also short TSLA, bring a heavy duty umbrella when you leave the house today because the forecast calls for a chance of sun and flying pigs.

The reversal of tone is remarkable. Five years ago, Citron said in a note of the Model 3, “By the time this product is even approaching market, there will be multiple other 200-mile range plug-ins that have been out for years.” Obviously, this prediction has turned out to be wrong. Sure, the Chevy Bolt is out there, but its sales pale in comparison to the relatively much more expensive Model 3. It’s not even a contest.

If you’re a Tesla fan, the report makes for great reading and is full of pithy comments. For example, “Like a magic trick, while everyone is focused on Elon smoking weed, he is quietly smoking the whole automotive industry.” Basically, though, the message boils down to this quote, “Tesla is destroying the competition.

Interestingly, Citron was one of the companies caught off guard by “The Tweet” from CEO Elon Musk about taking the company private and lost about $10 million because of it. They are still suing the company over that issue. Yet, they have now placed bets in the market that the share price will increase. Speaking of which, the company’s stock, TSLA, is up $15.20 (5.82%) today, as of this writing.

Be sure to tune in tomorrow when we report the final, official quarterly numbers and then follow the call with analysts in real time.

9 photos







Source: Citron


Source: Electric Vehicle News