Everyone Hates Tesla
There is a uniform opinion in the market that this is the worst stock to own in the history of mankind !! Short interest is 27.3%. Red means negative. Green means positive article. Below is history of just past two months. I am sure I missed a few other bearish views. But gives you general idea on the sentiment. I own the stock.
Today (July 30) – UBS says Tesla needs to do capital raise. Reiterates Sell rating with $195 price target.
July 27 – Bearish opinion presented by Je suis Montana in Alphaville Financial Times. See HERE.
July 22 – Bearish article on WSJ discussing a memo which was sent to a supplier by Tesla asking a refund from 2016. See HERE.
July 21 – On Twitter, a blogger posted bunch of aerial / drone pictures of SF Freemont facility with thousands of Model 3 in parking lot suggesting company is unable to sell these cars and inventory is piling up.
July 19 – Needham cut to Underperform (Sell) rating on stock from Hold, citing weak margin expectations.
July 18 – German Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) reported that they will reverse the environmental bonus for Tesla Model S. This means that customers who purchased a “Tesla Model S” before 6-Mar-18 can not benefit from the purchase premium. Meaning some 800 drivers that bought the car before March 6 will have to return the bonus back to govt. See HERE.
July 12 – Electrek reported and Tesla confirmed that company has hit federal tax credit threshold, tax credit to be halved starting 1-Jan-2019. See HERE.
July 10 – The WSJ reports that with sales of electric vehicles soaring in China, Tesla has made the decision to build a plant in the country despite ongoing US-China trade disputes. With a 500K annual capacity target for the plant, Tesla is setting up an aggressive timeline for 2020. See HERE.
July 5 – In a very lengthy article Washington Post tries to figure out if Tesla’s Elon Musk is a once-in-a-generation talent, deeply flawed, or both. I will call it basically a negative article given its tone. See HERE.
July 3 – Model 3 June monthly production data is announced. Keybanc, Needham, RBC, Evercore … all present bearish views.
July 2 – The SVP of engineering Doug Field departs company. WSJ immediately puts out a bearish view. WSJ also says that at least 50 people with the rank of VP or higher have left Tesla over the past two years. See HERE.
July 1 – Reuters reports Panasonic willing to consider investing more in Tesla’s Gigafactory. The article notes that Panasonic is contributing $1.6B of the current $5B for the facility. See HERE.
July 1 – NY Times goes cautious / bearish. Points out bunch of negative things about Model 3 production. See HERE.
June 28 – Reuters posts two negative articles. One about Model 3 unable to meet 5K production ramp and second about battery shortages. See HERE.
June 27 – Big front page negative article on WSJ, discusses the issues that Tesla is having producing its cars. See HERE.
June 22 – Bernstein suggests that Tesla automotive segment gross margins might be overstated, creating total panic in the market.
June 21 – Reuters out with another bearish article. This time about downsizing solar business. See HERE.
June 20 – Tesla sues former employee for allegedly stealing gigabytes of data, making false claims to media, CNBC reports. See HERE.
June 13 – Tesla CEO Elon Musk discloses purchase of 72.5K shares. Musk beneficially owns 33.7M shares of common stock, through the trust, following the transaction, according to Form 4. See HERE.
June 12 – Front page bearish article on WSJ, citing an internal memo, the WSJ reports that CEO Elon Musk told employees that the cuts won’t hit people assembling vehicles, though all other departments will be affected. See HERE.
June 8 – A shareholder proposal to separate Elon Musk’s chairman and CEO roles failed, Reuters tweets.
June 6 – Washington Post says Elon Musk has always had problems meeting deadlines. The Post digs in the history to bring up Elon’s childhood memories to make this bear case about his personality. See HERE.
June 1 – CNBC reports Tesla workers say factory paint shop has had multiple fires, causing more problems than Tesla let on. See HERE.
May 24 – Goldman Sachs talks about Tesla’s lofty goals with big bearish view. Goldman Sachs believes the firm will need to raise $10B by 2020, adding that production problems could see shares slide by another third over the next six months. While the company is still more valuable than Ford, a continued slide could make it a takeover target.
Fahad
