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- Legendary shorts seller Jim Chanoz told Bloomberg that his condition has been “painful” for the past 12 months.
- Shares of the electric vehicle maker have risen nearly 750% since last year, but Chanos said he still sees issues with Tesla’s business model and valuation.
- “We’re not maximally short, but we’re still short,” he said. “But now there’s so much more to do in the EV space that we’ve got a lot of other things that are probably even crazier than Tesla.”
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Legendary short seller Jim Chanoz told Bloomberg that he has reduced the size of his Tesla, even though he is still betting on stock losses.
He said the initial four years of his short position in 2016 were successful, as the broad-based stock market rose and Tesla “sideways.”
But now, the electric vehicle maker is up more than 750% in the last twelve months and its market capitalization is more than half a trillion dollars.
“It’s painful, obviously,” Chanos said of last year.
He explained that he had reduced Tezla’s bets to the maximum short position allowed by his hedge-fund, Kinikos Associates. Chanos said he now sees short-term opportunities with other companies that, like electric-truck maker Nicola, can “ride the cottel” of Tesla’s sky-high valuations.
“We’re not maximally short, but we’re still short,” Chanoz said. “But now there’s so much more to do in the EV space that we’ve got a lot of other things that are probably even crazier than Tesla.”
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Chanos added that he still sees issues with Tesla’s business model, valuation and accounting. The Tesla bull attracted the company as a clean-energy company and autonomous vehicle company, while Chano still sees Tesla as an om tomobile company, and will have to compete with a number of automakers entering the EV market.
“Every bull market has a stock that people pin their hopes and dreams on.” “Certainly one of these stocks is Tesla.”
The hedge fund manager said that for the past 12 months, Tesla has not made money from selling cars, but from selling tax credits.
“So, for all their market leadership, and to sell 50,000 on average cars, they’re still not making any money doing it.”
But what many on Wall Street continue to betray Tesla is the massive lattice ahead. Goldman Sachs recently upgraded Tesla from “Neutral” to “Buy” and raised its price target to $ 780, 40% off current levels. Analysts at Goldham Anal said the battery is moving faster than previously thought in the direction of electric vehicles, and Tesla is ready to receive it.
