Tesla shares are up 730%.
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Photographer: David Paul Morris / Bloomberg
Short Sellers from Tesla Inc. lost billions more on electric vehicle manufacturers in 2020 than any other company, as cattle were badly burned by the increase in inventory to new highs.
With a 730% increase in shares, Tesla cattle lost more than $ 38 billion in profits this year, according to data from S3 Partners. By comparison, the closest biggest loss for short sellers was on Apple Inc., with just under $ 7 billion, according to S3 data.
It’s not only the biggest market-to-market loss for any stock this year, it’s the biggest annual market-to-market loss I’ve ever seen, ‘said Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of S3 Partners.
Tesla did not respond to a request for comment.
Tesla Kortpyn
Short sellers lost more on Tesla in 2020 than any other stock
Source: S3 Partners
For now, the electric carmaker and its investors, small and large, are prevailing over a group of short sellers known as TSLAQ – Q is the stock market charter after a company filed for bankruptcy. .
These short sellers include some well known names like Jim Chanos, president and founder of the hedge fund Kynikos Associates. Chanos recently reduced its trading and told Bloomberg TV in early December that it was ‘painful’.
Read more: Chanos reduces ‘painful’ Tesla short, tells Musk ‘Job Well Done’
Many of Tesla’s short sellers closed their positions over the course of 2020, with a short-term interest rate of 6% on the fleet of almost 20% a year ago, according to S3 data.
‘The short print lasts all year. It was an oblique straight line down, ‘Dusaniwsky said. ‘The great thing about Tesla, unlike any other stock, is that the vast majority of retail shareholders will never be sellers. They like the shares, they like the car, they love Elon Musk and they are determined long shareholders. ”
Tesla’s shares soared this year, reaching five consecutive quarters of profit and amid growing Wall Street sentiment that the shift to electric vehicles is accelerating. The company was added to the S&P 500 index on December 21 and several smaller EV shares rose along with it.
The next potential catalyst comes in early January, when Tesla reports fourth-quarter production and delivery figures. Tesla expects to deliver half a million cars by 2020, a major milestone for a company that initially struggled to bring its Model 3 into mass production and is now building additional factories in Berlin and Austin, Texas.
“Tesla is looking at a lot of investment for investors in terms of people who want growth, disruption, electrification,” said Dan Levy, an analyst at Credit Suisse. ‘They had a good year operationally, but there are also broader trends in the market. There was clearly more interest in shortening the stock before 2020, and then 2020 knocked out a bunch of shorts. ‘
In July, CEO Musk adjusted the noses of Tesla critics by selling a limited edition of red satin shorts with the company’s logo – or what he called ‘short shorts’. Fans posted photos of themselves wearing them as Tesla’s stock rose, and Musk tweeted a photo of a couple as a Christmas greeting.
Musk, which is Tesla’s largest shareholder with an 18% stake, saw its own wealth balloon this year. He is now the second richest person on the planet after Jeff Bezos of Amazon.com Inc.