Tesla Inc (NASDAQ: TSLA)
Shares of Tesla ended Tuesday’s regular session with a gain of $33.19, or 12.72% to $294.14 after Andrew Left, manager of Citron Research, reversed his opinion on the stock from “short” to “long.”
Mr. Left has been a long-time critic and short-seller of the Palo Alto-based automaker. Last month, he filed a lawsuit against the company and its CEO Elon Musk, accusing Musk of ripping off investors through his August 7 “taking Tesla private” tweet.
Musk had tweeted that he was considering taking the company private at $420 a share and even went on say that he had “secured” the funds needed to complete the buyout. The SEC later concluded that his tweets were false and misleading and charged him and Tesla with securities fraud.
Two weeks ago, the regulator reached an agreement with Musk and the electric-car maker, requiring them to pay a fine of $20 million each. Musk is also expected to leave his position as chairman of the company for a period of at least three years.
Citron says that Model 3 sedan sales are enough to prove that Tesla is a hit. A note issued by the firm read, “Citron is long Tesla as the Model 3 is a proven hit and many of the TSLA warning signs have proven not to be significant.”
Citron added, “While the media has been focused on Elon Musk’s eccentric, outlandish and at times offensive behavior, it has failed to notice the legitimate disruption of the auto industry that is currently being dominated by Tesla.”
Despite the change in view, Citron is not considering dropping its lawsuit against Tesla and Musk. The automaker is expected to report its fiscal third quarter financial results after the closing bell on Wednesday.
That is a little bit odd because Tesla does not report earnings until at least a month after the end of the quarter. However, it is seems like Musk is thrilled with the achievements of his company during the quarter and eager to share the news with investors.
Mr. Musk has promised a Model 3 ramp-up targeted at making Tesla profitable. During the company’s Q2 earnings call, the chief executive said that the automaker doesn’t need to sell more stock in order to raise money to fund its operations.
Tesla, Inc. Company Profile
Tesla, Inc. engages in the design, development, manufacture, and sale of fully electric vehicles, energy generation and storage systems. It also provides vehicle service centers, supercharger station, and self-driving capability. The firm operates through Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage segments.
The Automotive segment includes the design, development, manufacture and sale of electric vehicles. The Energy Generation and Storage segment includes the design, manufacture, installation, sale, and lease of stationary energy storage products and solar energy systems, and sale of electricity generated by its solar energy systems to customers.
The company was founded by Jeffrey B. Straubel, Elon Reeve Musk, Martin Eberhard, and Marc Tarpenning on July 1, 2003 and is headquartered in Palo Alto, CA. – CNN Money
