TSLA had yet another bad week, closing down $19 (9%) from the previous Friday’s close. Last week every attempted bounce in the stock was shortable on a daytrading basis. Currently Tesla’s shares are trading at $188. It would likely be a lot lower if it weren’t for Musk’s repeated “leaked” emails loaded with dubious production and delivery claims, with both barrels pointed directly at short-sellers.
A second “leaked” email appeared on Wednesday, as the stock was getting ready to take another deep plunge, in which Musk asserts that the employees need to “catch up on deliveries” in order to have a “successful quarter.” Speaking of catching up on deliveries, whatever happened with the 10,000 vehicles that Musk claimed were “in transit” at the end of Q1…? This analysis posted by @boriqato is a priceless “de-coding” of the Musk emails.
In between Musk released a report that he was gearing up to start producing the chimerical Model Y in the Fremont facility, in addition to consolidating the production of the S and X onto one production line. Nothwithstanding the complications involved with reconfiguring the factor floor to produce 2 models on one line, hidden behind the concept is that fact that the move would be cutting in half the production rate of each model. Why would he do this if he’s running behind on deliveries?
Curiously absent from the news release was any estimates of the cost to retool the factory, purchase the equipment required to produce the Model Y and the manner in which the expense – which is enormous – would be funded. Given that there’s currently 20 lawsuits outstanding filed by vendors and service providers against Tesla seeking several million dollars in claims against unpaid invoices for services provided, it would appear that the Company is cash-strapped despite the recent capital raise. (Note: I sifted through several of the filings – many are honest mom and pop businesses trying to make a living – it’s quite sad that Musk feels entitled to stiff the businesses which are helping him proliferate his fraud)
Regardless of the veracity of the production numbers in the “leaked” emails to employees, the new order and Q2 delivery assertions are likely Musk’s standard fraudulent misrepresentations. In fact, on Saturday I saw a report from one of the analysts who posts his research on Twitter (@fly4dat). The data he tracks for Model 3 deliveries in Norway, Netherlands and Spain – three of Tesla’s largest European markets – show a stunning decline in deliveries (the data comes from official sources which track VIN registrations).
Based on his extrapolation of Q1 and April deliveries plus the plunge in deliveries across all models globally, it looks like Tesla will be lucky to reach Q1’s 63,000 deliveries. Certainly we would have to suspect fraudulent reporting if deliveries come anywhere near Musk’s claim that Q2 deliveries could reach 90,000. Furthermore, Tesla’s Models S and X are now getting crushed in Europe by sales and deliveries (VIN registrations) of the Audi e-tron and Jaguar IPace.
Tesla was forced to slash the price of both the S and X this past week for the third time in three months. Unquestionably, the price cuts reflect the collapsing demand. More likely, Musk scripted the email and its “leaks” for the purpose of juicing the stock price in pre-market trading in an attempt to stimulate hedge fund and retail daytrader momentum chasers and trigger a short-squeeze.
The leaked email on Friday had the intended effect – for about an hour – as the stock shot up to as high as $199.60 from $181. The stock closed at $195.46. The second leaked email on Wednesday – not so much. The stock opened briefly higher but is now down over $2 from Wednesday’s close. It’s trading at a level not seen since the end of November 2017. The Musk/Tesla mystique is unraveling.
The email events, along with all of Musk’s circus acts, begs one simple question: Is Musk trying to produce and sell automobiles or is he simply attempting to pump the stock price of a failed business model?