TSLA stock

Tesla is set to release its first quarter 2016 financial results on Wednesday, May 4 after market close. As usual, the release of the results will be followed by a conference call and Q&A with Tesla’s management at 2:30pm Pacific Time (5:30pm Eastern Time). Now here’s what to expect on Wednesday:
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It looks like Motor Trend is trying to redeem itself following last week’s Apple car fiasco. The car review magazine managed to convince Tesla to get a few hours with a Model 3 prototype for a photoshoot at the Tesla Gigafactory in Nevada.
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Tesla’s stock price ($TSLA) surprisingly tumbled following a new report from the review magazine Consumer Reports highlighting some quality issues with early Model X units. The stock fell over 4% after the report was published this morning, but gained in the afternoon and it is now down only 2%.

I say the tumble is surprising due to the report hardly containing any new information. The magazine cites one particular case of a Model X owner having some issues needing a few service center visits and then add some data point by also citing “message boards” complaints about the vehicle.
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Switzerland was Tesla’s breakout European market last year and it continues to be an impressive market for the company. Deliveries were up 213% year-over-year at the end of 2015 and now we learn that  Model S deliveries are up 117% in the first quarter 2016 versus the same period last year, according to registration data.
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The last time Elon Musk commented on the short interest on Tesla’s stock, he warned that anyone holding a stock position against the company will have a “tsunami of hurt” coming for them. During the 12 following months, Tesla’s stock price increased by 461%, a lot of which was attributed to a short squeeze after Tesla reported its first quarterly profit in Q1 2013.

Today as short interest on Tesla is close to an all-time high, Musk commented on it again. Though he was more cautious in his choice of words than last time – so maybe not a tsunami 2.0. 
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Tesla’s stock (TSLA) was up over 4% in early trading this morning after CEO Elon Musk spent his weekend answering questions on Twitter about the newly revealed Model 3 and sending out updates about the number of reservations Tesla is accumulating.

Since Tesla unveiled the vehicle last week, 8 financial analysts issued new notes updating their analysis of Tesla’s outlook and currently the general consensus is a “buy”, but with an average price target of $253 – representing only a ~6% upside.
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Investors and Wall Street analysts are mostly happy with Tesla’s Model 3 event last night and the confirmation that over 150,000 reservations were placed in the last 24 hours – much more than some of the most optimistic predictions. The company’s stock (TSLA) surged about 10% in early trading before settling down to a 3% gain at ~$236 right after the opening bell.
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In just the past few weeks, Tesla lost 2 Vice-Presidents. Last week, we reported on Tesla’s Vice President of Global Communications Ricardo Reyes leaving the company, and now we learn that the automaker’s VP of Finance and Worldwide Controller is leaving to return to Amazon as VP of Finance.

Michael Zanoni joined Tesla from Amazon in 2014.
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Tesla’s stock (TSLA) is down almost 5% today following a downgrade from S&P Global Market Intelligence. S&P analyst Efraim Levy issued a new note today downgrading Tesla to “sell” with a new price target of $155, while the stock currently trades at ~$223.
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Tesla’s stock price is up almost 2% in pre-market trading this morning following a new note and “Outperform” rating from Baird financial analyst Ben Kallo. The analyst upgraded his rating on the automaker and increased his price target from $230 to $300 – the stock currently trades at ~$210.

Kallo recently visited Tesla’s factory in Fremont and in a note sent to clients, he commented:

“We believe investor skepticism has significantly increased since we downgraded TSLA on Oct. 6, and although we were concerned about the rate of Model X deliveries, recent data points show production is accelerating, which should drive deliveries and margin expansion throughout 2016. Additionally, we believe TSLA is ahead of expectations on reducing battery costs, and continues to have a significant lead on competing EVs. We would be buyers at current levels.”

By manufacturing its batteries at the Gigafactory, Tesla aims to reduce its cost by at least 30%. Its current cost is unknown, but estimates range from $150/kWh to $250/kWh.
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The stock market is currently heavily betting against Tesla ahead of the upcoming Model 3 unveiling later this month. The percentage of short interest on Tesla’s stock hit an all-time high of 27% this week despite the recent significant price per share decrease earlier in the year.
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After Tesla CEO Elon Musk exercised over $100 million worth of options on two separate occasions ahead of the earnings last week, now it’s Chief Technology Officer and co-founder JB Straubel’s turn to exercise some options and increase his stake in the automaker.
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As Tesla’s management was starting the conference call to discuss the company’s fourth quarter financial results today, the company released a new SEC filing confirming that CEO Elon Musk exercised another $108 million worth of options just a few weeks after exercising over $100 million.
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Tesla is set to release its fourth quarter 2015 financial results on Wednesday, February 10 after market close. As usual, the release of the results will be followed by a conference call and Q&A with Tesla’s management at 2:30pm Pacific Time (5:30pm Eastern Time). Now here’s what to expect on Wednesday:
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Tesla’s last few earnings were relatively uneventful, but next’s week results are shaping up to be quite interesting. Not only because Tesla managed to achieve a record number of deliveries last quarter, but also because of the peculiar action around the company’s stock leading up to the earnings, which are set to be published on February 10.
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Tesla’s stock price had quite the morning. The stock opened 4% down after notorious Tesla “bull” and Morgan Stanley analyst Adam Jonas published a negative note reducing his target price by 25%, but minutes later the stock went green and up 3% on high volume.

Overall Tesla’s stock is down 17% since the beginning of the year. With the fourth quarter financial results coming (Feb 10), let’s take a moment to talk about the stock.
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In a new SEC filing published after market close today, Tesla confirmed that CEO Elon Musk exercised stock options to purchase 532,000 shares of Tesla’s common stock, which is worth a little more than $100 million based on today’s closing price of $191.
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According to Nasdaq’s latest short interest update, the total short position on Tesla’s stock increased to 27,367,931 shares – its highest since March 2014. The short position is almost as important as Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s own stake in the company: 28,371,342 shares or about 29% of the float.

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