Last year marked Tesla Inc's TSLA worst stock performance since going public, with shares down over 60% in 2022. Investors could be expecting a rebound in 2023 and one shareholder recently put that thesis to the test.
What Happened: Shares of Tesla have soared to start 2023, helped by a revenue and earnings per share beat in the fourth quarter and optimism for several future catalysts.
Tesla shareholder Jason DeBolt has had confidence in Tesla for years, having accumulated enough shares to retire from his day job as a software engineer in 2021 at the age of 39.
DeBolt said at the time he didn’t anticipate selling any Tesla shares for “the foreseeable future.”
Today I’m retiring from the corporate world at age 39.
— Jason DeBolt (@jasondebolt) January 7, 2021
Not selling any shares for the foreseeable future. $TSLA pic.twitter.com/wCDZJlPdoX
With Tesla shares beaten down, DeBolt decided to show his confidence in Tesla and CEO Elon Musk once again. DeBolt sold his house to fund the purchase of additional shares.
DeBolt didn’t even wait for the sale of his home to clear, choosing instead to use margin from his broker to buy more shares of Tesla in the $128 to $139 range before the company reported fourth quarter earnings.
DeBolt purchased 9,500 additional shares of Tesla, taking his total allocation up to around 48,000 shares when combined with the shares he already owned.
With Tesla’s stock price soaring in the last week, the new 9,500 share investment is up around $400,000.
“Mainly, the attractive Tesla stock price is what drove me. It was just too cheap to ignore,” DeBolt told Teslarati in an exclusive interview.
DeBolt said he was drawn to add to his stake in the EV makers, with shares of Tesla down around 75% from their all-time highs.
“During this period, Tesla grew revenue by 51%, doubled its net income, rolled out FSD to tens of thousands of people, and began ramping up Megapack production at Lathrop.”
Seeing an opportunity to load up on Tesla shares on the cheap, DeBolt turned to selling his house, which he called “the obvious answer” to get more cash.
DeBolt is now renting a home by the beach in Los Angeles, California.
Related Link: Tesla Rallies Off Q4 Earnings, This Item Was All Bulls Needed To Hear Analyst Says
Full Confidence in Tesla: For those keeping score, DeBolt has now quit his job and sold his house as direct reactions to his confidence in investments in Tesla stock.
DeBolt said he has supported Tesla since he saw the Tesla Roadster in 2008 and the early Tesla Model S prototype.
“I ordered a Model S in 2011 and took delivery in 2013. I purchased thousands of shares for about $2 a share after seeing the Fremont factory and driving my Model S for the first time,” he said.
Over the years, DeBolt added to his Tesla investment, snatching up shares when others didn’t want to hold the stock.
“It was obvious to me that Tesla was going to disrupt the entire automotive and oil industries back then because EVs are fundamentally superior to gas vehicles in every way, and there were no serious competitors to Tesla back then. This is true today as well.”
DeBolt said retirement has been great, but he’s looking for something to do with his time.
“I’m exploring areas such as machine learning, finance, and philosophy in addition to my ongoing Tesla research. My life is pretty dope, and I’m doing exactly what I want to be doing.”
TSLA Price Action: Tesla shares closed Friday at $177.90 and are up 65% year-to-date in 2023.
Read Next: Elon Musk Boasts About His Popularity During Tesla Earnings Call
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