Why Jim Chanos Is Still Short Tesla And This Tech Stock That's Up 15% YTD

Kynikos Associates founder and famed short seller Jim Chanos still maintains short positions in Tesla Inc TSLA and International Business Machines Corp IBM, he said Monday on CNBC's "Fast Money Halftime Report."

As Tesla has continued to climb higher and  Michael Burry recently announced he's no longer betting against Tesla, Chanos told CNBC he maintains a slightly more than 1% short position in Tesla: We're still batting our heads against the brick wall."

Related Link: 'The Big Short' Fame's Michael Burry Says No Longer Betting Against Tesla: CNBC

TSLA Short Thesis: Tesla is trading at nearly 120 times next year's estimates and it's just a car company, Chanos said. Many people view Tesla as a tech company and are investing their hard-earned dollars on the potential of the company to offer much more than just electric vehicles.

Chanos isn't buying it.

"We just think that's absolutely silly and being valued at more than the entire rest of the global automobile industry combined ... just highlights the risk," he said.

IBM Short Thesis: Chanos told CNBC he has a much larger short position in IBM.

IBM is representative of the idea that sometimes the greatest scams are hiding in plain sight, he emphasized. In the case of IBM, Chanos thinks the company is reporting misleading numbers through the use of pro-forma accounting.

"The really fascinating thing from our perspective, if you look at IBM's operating earnings and add their IP royalty stream and tax it at a normal 21%, the actual earnings are $6," Chanos said.

IBM is expected to earn almost $11 per share in 2021, he noted.

"And so you have this almost $5 spread between what IBM is really earning and what they claim they hope to earn on an 'adjusted basis' this year."

Tesla and IBM are set to announce third-quarter financial results after the market closes on Oct. 20.

TSLA, IBM Price Action: Tesla was up 3.51% at $872.61, while IBM was down 1.57% at $142.35 at time of publication.