'Even Elon would short the stock here': A renowned short-seller is calling foul on Tesla's record-shattering rally
- Tesla shares have surged as much as 21% Tuesday, doubling year-to-date.
- Amid the rally, famed short-seller Andrew Left's Citron Research tweeted that "even Elon would short the stock here if he was a fund manager."
- Citron Research has flipped its position in Tesla many times.
- Watch Tesla trade live on Markets Insider.
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Tesla's parabolic rally has sent shares up 21% Tuesday, following a 19% surge Monday and putting gains at over 100% year-to-date.
While bulls are cheering the record run, short-sellers are also weighing in on what's next for the Elon Musk-led automaker.
In a tweet Tuesday, Citron Research, which is run by famed short-seller Andrew Left, said that the firm loves Tesla and promised to never be short the equity again.
Still, the message continued, "when the computers start driving the market, we believe even Elon would short the stock here if he was a fund manager. This is no longer about the technology, it has become the new Wall St casino."
Left has a reputation for writing market-moving reports and tweets. One of his most prominent calls was shorting Valeant Pharmaceuticals, which he dubbed the "pharmaceutical Enron."
He's changed his mind and position on Tesla a few times. Left and his firm held a short position on the automaker for about two years from 2016 to 2018, and even sued both Tesla and CEO Elon Musk for stock manipulation.
But in October 2018, he made a surprising pivot by dropping his short position and going long on Tesla. His reasoning? "Plain and simple - Tesla is destroying the competition," he wrote in a blog post. He did not drop his lawsuit against Tesla and Musk when he went long on the stock.
The bullish bet didn't last long. In April 2019, he dropped his position, saying he had become frustrated with how the company was corresponding with shareholders. Still, even though Left shed his long Tesla bet, he said that he was not short the stock.
In 2020, traders who have bet against Tesla are down more than $8 billion in mark-to-market losses and may be starting to get squeezed. But not all short-sellers are caving to the pressure, saying that even though holding onto a short bet might be painful, the stock is bound to come down as its rally is not tied to fundamentals.
And even some long-time Tesla bulls are starting to become wary of the stock's record rally. On Tuesday, Pierre Ferragu, who held the highest Wall Street price target on Tesla many times, downgraded shares to "neutral" from "buy." In January, Adam Jonas of Morgan Stanley slapped Tesla with the firm's first "sell" rating in seven years.
Tesla has gained roughly 87% year-to-date through Monday's close.
