電影《大賣空》(Big Short)真實主角、在2008年全球金融海嘯爆發前放空不動產抵押證券的知名對沖基金經理人麥可貝瑞(Michael
Burry)，12月1日稍晚除了透過Twitter表示「我正在放空特斯拉」之外，還向馬斯克喊話，要他以目前這個荒謬價格多發行20-50%的股票(So,
@elonmusk, yes, I`m short $TSLA, but some free advice for a good guy
... Seriously, issue 25-50% of your shares at the current ridiculous
price. That`s not dilution)。
Chanos Reduces ‘Painful’ Tesla Short, Tells Musk ‘Job Well Done’
Scarlet Fu
(Bloomberg) -- Jim Chanos has been short Tesla Inc.’s stock for five
long years. And although he’s reduced the size of the trade, he’s not
done with it yet.
For the first four years, he says, it wasn’t such a bad short. The electric-vehicle maker’s stock wasn’t trouncing the market.
The
last 12 months? That’s a different story, with Tesla climbing more than
700% and inflating its market capitalization to above half a trillion
dollars. The company is now bigger than all but five members of the
S&P 500 and will be added to the benchmark index later this month.
Chanos has reduced the Tesla bet from the maximum short position of 5%
of capital allowed at his hedge-fund firm Kynikos Associates.
“It’s been painful, clearly,” Chanos said in a Bloomberg “Front Row” interview.
The
famed short-seller continues to takes issue with Tesla’s business model
and valuation. Some investors see it as an electric-vehicle company,
others view it as an autonomous-vehicle company, while still others
treat it as a clean-energy play.
“It’s whatever people want to
believe Elon Musk is touting,” said Chanos, pointing out that Tesla’s
five straight quarters of profit are due to sales of regulatory credits
rather than cars. Tesla trades at about 900 times trailing earnings, and
more than 150 times estimated earnings for the next four quarters.
“I’ve never met Elon Musk,” said Chanos. “I’ve never had a conversation with him.”
If they were to meet? “I’d say, ‘job well done so far,’” he said.
By
contrast, 2020 has been a tough slog for Kynikos in its 35th year. The
firm has a traditional long-short hedge fund where passive index funds
provide most of the long exposure, allowing Chanos to focus on the short
side. Kynikos also offers a fundamentally chosen short portfolio that
serves as an insurance policy for investors who are long the market.
But
after the Federal Reserve cut interest rates to record lows in March
and made clear it will step in with more help if necessary, he said few
investors are worrying about significant downside risk, much less see
the need to actively protect against a rising stock market.
