Tesla’s stock price has risen 5% on the news that Andrew Left of Citron Research is now betting on the company.
Left was one of Tesla’s most visible shorts sellers, but now he says in a report (pdf) published today (Oct. 23) that the growing number of completed deliveries and new demand for the company’s cars have changed the firm’s opinion. Citron is now long on Tesla, after the auto company shipped more than 80,000 cars in the third quarter of 2018.
“Tesla appears to be the only company that can actually produce and sell electric cars,” Citron wrote.
Citron blames the media for focusing on the wrong aspects of CEO Elon Musk’s behavior. Just this year, Musk has been rude to analysts on calls, called a cave diver a pedophile, smoked weed with Joe Rogan on camera, sending shorts to short sellers, burrowed a tunnel under LA, made a flamethrower kinda, and is now maybe making Tesla-branded tequila.
“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 [sic] by Tesla,” the report says. “Like a magic trick, while everyone is focused on Elon smoking weed, he is quietly smoking the whole automotive industry.”
Left is still suing Tesla for allegedly violating federal securities laws, however, after Musk’s botched attempt to take the company private.
Tesla’s stock price is still down from the start of the year.