Tesla short sellers lost $ 1.33B on Thursday’s stock pump: Musk only got richer


Tesla shares rose again this week, this time by over 8% to set a new price record of $ 1,228. If you were Elon Musk, you’re probably already working hard on a new club track to celebrate but those who have bet against them are probably angry.

Thursday’s Tesla bomb not only solidified its position as the world’s most valuable automotive company, but also meant that its chief executive, Musk, has added $ 20 billion to his wealth since March.

But it absolutely ruined 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.

“Short sellers” borrow stocks in what they perceive as overpriced companies (often through a broker through a pension fund). They then sell those loaned shares immediately and buy them back when they fall back on 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 that Tesla short sellers have dropped $ 15.9 billion so far in 2020, during which time $ TSLA has increased by more than 180%. Worse yet, Dusaniwski estimates that Tesla short sellers have lost $ 30.45 billion in bruising since 2010.

Tesla sales have increased, and so has its stock

Tesla’s most recent pump coincided with the company’s release of its quarterly earnings, which revealed that it had sold 90,650 electric cars. far above the industry’s highest estimate of 86,000.

The company also noted that its factory in Fremont, California has returned to operations at “pre-pandemic” levels. Tesla’s solid earnings reportedly pushed many analysts to raise their $ TSLA price targets.

The impact of Tesla’s stock bombs on the company’s short sellers isn’t lost on Musk, who spent part of Thursday afternoon fishing for the $ TSLA bears on Twitter. no doubt fueled by that warm, fuzzy feeling that comes with additional billions.

Posted on Jul 3, 2020 – 13:01 UTC