Tesla shorts lose more than $1 billion on post-earnings surge

Investors betting against Tesla lost more than $1 billion Thursday as the company’s shares rallied the most in over two years, according to estimates from financial technology firm S3 Partners.

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“We believe the sustainable production rate for the second quarter of 2018 is most likely below the 2,000 vehicle mark the company achieved in the final week of the [first] quarter,” Goldman analyst David Tamberrino wrote Tuesday. “We see the company likely sustaining Model 3 production around the 1,400 per week mark.”

Musk has also pushed back against Wall Street analysts, including those at Goldman Sachs, which continues advise clients to sell Tesla stock. The CEO called out Goldman back in April after the bank issued a gloomy forecast.

“Place your bets,” Musk quipped on Twitter, appearing to challenge would-be sellers to exit at their own risk.

Tesla declined to comment on this story.

— CNBC’s
Michael Sheetz
contributed to this report.