Tesla dives below $300 after Waymo teams up with Jaguar on electric vehicles
- Waymo on Tuesday announced a 20,000-vehicle deal to use Jaguar's Tesla competitor for self-driving cars.
- Shares of Tesla continued to sink after a week of bad news and increasing short bets.
Shares of Tesla slid as much as 4.4% Tuesday, putting the stock on track for its lowest close since March 31, 2017, after Waymo announced a partnership with Jaguar to use 20,00 electric I-PACE vehicles in its fleet of self-driving cars.
Jaguar's I-PACE, which the British automaker revealed earlier this month, is its first fully electric vehicle - and is designed to directly compete with rivals like Tesla and Porsche in the luxury electric-vehicle market. I-PACE can rack up 240 miles on a single charge, compared to the Model X's 295.
Tesla's drop comes a day after Sam Pierson, the director of securities finance at IHS Markit said that short bets on Tesla bonds were so popular that 99% of the lendable supply for shorting Tesla's high-yield coupon had been completely drained.
As Business Insider reported Monday, JPMorgan warned clients that the risks around Tesla's so-called "production hell" unrest aren't adequately priced into the market right now.
"We believe the market may be underpricing the potential significance of the Model 3 production release, which we expect in early April," said Shawn Quigg, an equity derivatives strategist at JPMorgan. "We see greater reward-risk in positioning for a downside move."
Production numbers are expected early next month from Tesla - and investors will be closely watching the results.
The company has a history of catastrophically missing delivery expectations, and traders are gearing up for more disappointment. "It appears short sellers are looking for more downside before they begin to cover," IHS Markit said.
A fatal crash in Arizona of a self-driving Tesla Model X operated by Uber last week, and another in California resulting in a fire, have dominated news for both companies for recent days. The NTSB said Tuesday it was sending a team of investigators to the California crash site in Silicon Valley.
Shares of Tesla are down 7.3% so far in 2018.