The market value of EV leader Tesla has surged by nearly $300 billion in just the past month.
The colossal gains follow fresh deals with GM and Ford that allow them access to Tesla’s supercharger network.
Elon Musk’s carmaker had a market capitalization of $813.9 billion as of Wednesday.
Tesla’s stock is on a tear again, with Elon Musk’s electric-vehicle maker adding an eye-popping $287 billion in market value in just the past month.
The spectacular surge in market capitalization tracks a record 13-day winning streak for the stock to highs unseen in eight months. The shares surged 26% in June alone, rebounding a stunning 68% from late-April lows, to Wednesday’s closing level of $256.79.
That’s boosted the EV maker’s market cap to $813.9 billion, from $527.2 billion as of mid-May, according to Refinitiv data.
The impressive stock rally partly reflects increasing investor optimism about Tesla’s ability to monetize its EV charging technologies and infrastructure, adding to income from car sales. Musk’s company recently finalized deals with General Motors and Ford to allow them access to its supercharger network.
George Soros, Steve Cohen, and Jim Simons’ funds piled into Tesla and other trendy names last quarter, while Jim Chanos took aim at meme stocks. Here’s a roundup of 5 key trades.
Several elite investors took positions in Tesla and other trendy stocks last quarter.
George Soros, Steve Cohen, and Jim Simons’ funds bet big on Elon Musk’s car company.
Short seller Jim Chanos placed wagers against Tesla, AMC, and other high-flying stocks.
Some of the world’s top investors piled into Tesla and other trendy stocks last quarter, while a notable short seller bet against them.
George Soros, Steve Cohen, and Jim Simons’ funds bought shares of Elon Musk’s automaker in the three months ended December 31, Securities and Exchange Commission filings revealed this week. Meanwhile, Ray Dalio’s hedge fund boosted its bets on GameStop and AMC Entertainment, two classic meme stocks.
In contrast, Jim Chanos ramped up his wager against Tesla, and revealed a slew of bearish positions in AMC and other popular stocks.
Here are 5 big funds that placed bets on Tesla and other trendy stocks last quarter:
1. Soros Fund Management
Soros Fund Management scooped up about 42,000 Tesla shares last quarter. The purchases increased its stake by almost half to around 132,000 shares, worth over $16 million as of December 31.
George Soros’ fund also bought bullish call options on another 200,000 shares of the automaker. Those likely paid off, given the roughly 60% rise in Tesla’s stock price this year.
2. Point72 Asset Management
Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management grew its stash of Tesla call options from 50,000 to 60,500 last quarter.
The New York Mets owner’s hedge fund also purchased 878,000 Tesla shares worth $108 million at the end of December, propelling Musk’s company into the top 60 of its nearly 1,500 holdings at the year end.
Moreover, Point72 built a new stake in GameStop, the video-game retailer that became the ultimate meme stock in January 2021. The fund’s 606,000 shares were worth $11 million as of December 31.
3. Renaissance Technologies
Jim Simons’ Renaissance Technologies raised its Tesla stake from 1,400 shares to 3.4 million last quarter. The purchases lifted the value of its position by more than 1,000 times, from under $400,000 to over $400 million as of December 31.
It’s worth noting the fund relies on algorithms to decide many of its trades and frequently changes its positions, limiting the insight offered by its quarterly filings.
4. Bridgewater Associates
Ray Dalio’s Bridgewater Associates almost tripled its stake in GameStop to nearly 39,000 shares last quarter. Its bet on the video-game retailer was valued at $712,000 at the end of December.
The billionaire investor’s hedge fund also nearly tripled its stake in fellow meme stock AMC to around 64,000 shares. Its position in the movie-theater chain was worth $261,000 at the year’s close.
5. Chanos & Company
Jim Chanos’ fund massively ramped up its bet against Tesla and placed bearish wagers against meme stocks, cryptocurrency companies, and high-flying technology stocks last quarter.
Chanos & Company held put options on 131,000 Tesla shares as of December 31, up from only 5,900 shares three months earlier. It also bought puts on AMC, Digital World Acquisition Corporation, Coinbase, Microstrategy, and DoorDash last quarter.
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The move is aimed at ensuring Tesla’s competitors will be on “equal footing,” the billionaire entrepreneur said in a Twitter discussion.
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“Tesla aspires to be as helpful as possible to other car companies. We made all our patents freely available several years ago,” Musk said in a tweet. “Now, we are enabling other companies to use our Supercharger network. Also happy to license Autopilot/FSD or other Tesla technology,” he added.
Wedbush predicts more Tesla stock gains
Wedbush Securities expects the charging-tech deals will help the Tesla stock surge 17% from current levels to $300 a share. “For Tesla, we believe this is a large monetization opportunity for the company in its supercharger story, adding to its growing sum-of-the-parts valuation,” analyst Dan Ives wrote in a recent note.
He added that Tesla’s price cutting mechanism in the US and China will also help spur demand for Tesla vehicles, further boosting the company’s upward trajectory.
The EV maker’s stock gains are also in line with accelerated advances in tech shares in recent weeks, as investors stepped up bets that the Federal Reserve would pause its interest-rate increases this month. The tech-heavy Nasdaq 100 index has climbed 12% since mid-May.
The central bank kept borrowing costs on hold at its meeting this week, snapping a series of 10 consecutive increases aimed at taming inflation that hit 40-year highs in 2022.
Musk recently poked fun at the legendary investor Bill Miller for shorting Tesla stock when it was less than half its current value.
In a tweet last weekend, he replied with a laughing emoji in response to a CNBC interview in early January in which Miller said that he was betting against the carmaker because of increased industry competition.
