Citron Shorts Tesla, Again: 'Even Elon Would Short The Stock Here'

Tesla Inc TSLA has been one of the biggest market winners 2020, but Citron’s Andrew Left told Benzinga on Tuesday he’s betting Tesla will come back down to earth at some point.

The short seller, who has taken both sides of the Tesla trade in recent years, said on Twitter that even Tesla CEO Elon Musk would short the stock at this point if he were running an investment fund.

We love $TSLA and promised never to be short again. BUT 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.

— Citron Research (@CitronResearch) February 4, 2020

Citron Vs. Tesla

Tesla has given Left fits for years. Left was a longtime Tesla short leading up to a change of heart in October 2018. During that time, Tesla shares were up 74%. From the time Left turned bullish in October 2018 to April 2019, Tesla shares were down 20%.

In April, Left abandoned his bullish take on Tesla and said its cash burn and capital needs were too large of a concern for him to continue to take a bullish position in Tesla. Since he abandoned his bullish stance in April, Tesla shares are up 279.6%.

In December, Left said Tesla stock was doing “too much too fast” when it was trading at around $430. Since that time is has more than doubled in just over a month’s time.

In an email to Benzinga on Tuesday, Left confirmed he is once again short Tesla.

The good news for Left is that Tesla at least earned some money for charity in 2019 on his behalf: Left won a $10,000 charity bet with a Tesla bear. Tilson bet Left $10,000 that Tesla would not report a profitable quarter in 2019, but Tesla reported $143 million in net income in the third quarter.

Benzinga’s Take

It’s difficult not to be skeptical of such a massive run in a stock in such a short period of time with very little fundamental justification to back it up. Following Tuesday’s big gain, Tesla is now trading at 112.8 times consensus 2020 EPS estimates.

Do you agree with this take? Email feedback@benzinga.com with your thoughts.

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