Investor's Corner
Tesla investors are buying…and selling their TSLA shares
Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) major institutional investors are making big moves with their holdings of the EV powerhouse’s stock. New reports show that at least three large firms are modifying their TSLA holdings, either adding or selling shares after a massive 2020.
Major Tesla investment firm Baillie Gifford has sliced its holdings of the electric automaker’s stock. New data shows that the United Kingdom-based fund has sliced its TSLA holdings across “at least 11 of its funds and investment trusts,” ThisIsMoney reported. In December, Gifford’s flagship fund Scottish Mortgage held 8.4% of Tesla’s outstanding shares, cutting this down to 5.1% in January. After the trimming of its TSLA holdings, Scottish Mortgage made Tesla its fourth-largest holding in its portfolio. Before selling shares, it was the firm’s largest holding.
Other Gifford-run funds, like the Baillie Gifford Global Alpha Growth Fund and International Funds, both had TSLA drop out of their top 10 holdings completely. It is unclear if Gifford completely released all TSLA holdings from these portfolios, but it is clear the automaker is not in the top 10 holdings of either of these funds.
Another firm, Capital World Investors, also trimmed their holdings by around 11.48%, according to a 13G filing with the SEC. At one time, Capital World Investors was Tesla’s second-largest institutional investor, owning over 52 million shares. After the 11.48% cutback, Capital World now controls 46,249,648 shares, accounting for a 4.82% stake in Tesla.
However, some firms are loading up on TSLA shares once again, as the EV maker has had a slight run-up in 2021. Susquehanna Advisors also owns a 5.2% stake in Tesla with 49,569,773 shares owned. This makes it the second-largest institutional investor behind Vanguard, which holds 60.7 million shares, representing 6.5% of total ownership.
Another firm that has made some big moves is Citadel Securities, which became a top 5 institutional Tesla investor after reporting it now holds 28.5 million TSLA shares.
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While Tesla is one of the hottest stocks available to investors today, there are several reasons that some firms could trim their holdings. In fact, Gifford has done this in the past to promote more portfolio diversity, as Tesla’s 2020 rally that equated to over 700% of total growth for the year began to infiltrate too much of the firm’s holdings. The firm indicated that it was an “enforced reduction” when it made the move. However, it is unclear why Gifford chose to trim its position recently.
Other firms that chose to increase their TSLA position may be preparing for a surge in share price over the coming years. With many bullish analysts putting their price targets above $1,000 post-split for the first time, Tesla is priming itself to dominate the EV sector for years to come. With focuses on international expansion and manufacturing efficiencies, and its energy division, Tesla seems to be one of the most ideal stocks for those interested in sustainability. It has the track record to prove it.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder
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Elon Musk issued a second pointed warning to SpaceX short sellers on Tuesday, just hours before the company was set to release its first quarterly earnings as a publicly traded firm. Responding to a report highlighting elevated short interest, Musk wrote on X: “I try to warn them, but they just double down …”
The comment came as data from S3 Partners showed roughly 95 percent of available SPCX shares to borrow were on loan, translating to about 34 percent short interest as a percentage of the float. The stock has traded under pressure since its record-breaking IPO in June 2026, declining significantly from early peaks.
I try to warn them, but they just double down … 🤷♂️
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) August 4, 2026
This marks the second such message from Musk in under three weeks.
On July 17, amid post-IPO volatility, he stated: “The survival probability of firms who maintain a significant short position in SpaceX over time is very low.” At that time, SPCX had fallen roughly 30 percent from its peak above a $2.6 trillion valuation, with short sellers reportedly realizing gains of about $8.7 billion.
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Musk’s warning aligned with optimistic analyses projecting that Starship-driven cost reductions could enable a multi-trillion-dollar space economy through applications such as orbital solar power, asteroid mining, data centers, and Mars-related projects, positioning SpaceX as critical infrastructure.
SpaceX is scheduled to report second-quarter results after the market close later today, followed by a webcast. Analysts anticipate revenue near $6.9 billion, reflecting growth in Starlink, launch services, and AI-related segments. The earnings release precedes a major lockup expiration on August 6 that could free hundreds of millions of insider shares.
Musk has a long track record of confronting short sellers, particularly regarding Tesla, where he has argued that persistent bearish positions underestimate transformative technologies. Critics view his optimism as overly ambitious given near-term stock fluctuations, while supporters see temporary dips as opportunities in a longer-term expansion of the space economy.
As SpaceX opens its books to public scrutiny for the first time, the high short interest and Musk’s repeated cautions set the stage for heightened market attention on the results and management’s commentary.
Elon Musk’s space exploration company, SpaceX (NASDAQ: SPCX), is set to report its earnings for the second quarter today in what will be its first-ever earnings call since going public in July.
SpaceX is trading down roughly 25 percent from its IPO. These early stock signals are usually a bit tumultuous, and considering this is the first company actively launching rockets that is available on the stock exchange, investors might have a tendency to be a bit skittish.
However, there are going to be some details that investors will hear for the first time today on the earnings call. Here’s what to look for:
Wall Street Expectations
Revenue is expected to fall somewhere around $6.8 billion, and will be heavily driven by Starlink, which is SpaceX’s widely popular satellite internet platform that has been adopted by numerous airlines, cruise ships, and other maritime operations. It is also available for consumers at home or in their cars.
Earnings Per Share (EPS) expectations fall at a net loss of $0.23 per share. Wall Street sees this as a total net loss of roughly $1.9 billion.
EBITDA is expected to come in between $2 billion and $2.1 billion.
What Investors Want to Know
Tesla uses the Say platform to help work with both retail and institutional investors to answer relevant and quality questions that address concerns or questions that they might have.
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However, SpaceX is doing things differently, as the company launched its own Investor Relations website where these questions are being fielded. Just like the Tesla questions, they seem to be less focused on the operational tasks and overall progress of the company, and more novelty.
Here are the top five:
- Has the team thought about what possibilities there are with your mascot Asteroid? Whether it’s starting additional foundations for kids in its name, helping kids learn about space, etc. Kids are our future, and Asteroid would be a fun and easy way to help.
- Baby Asteroid is already making a difference through charity around the world. Could SpaceX take it even further with programs that inspire kids to explore space?
- SpaceX has some legendary vehicle names. Would you ever allow the public to name a Starship, even knowing there is a 99% chance it becomes Shipy McShipface?
- When can we expect to see more footage of the Human Landing System?
- Will Asteroid (your mascot) go to Mars?
SpaceX will report its earnings today, August 4, at 4:30 P.M. EDT.
SpaceX will report second quarter results after the market closes on Tuesday, August 4, marking the first time the company has opened its books to the public since its record IPO in June. Management will host a live audio only webcast at 4:30 p.m. ET, streamed on X, with no dial in option.
The debut carries more weight than a typical first quarter as a public company. Two trading days after the release, on August 6, the first tranche of SpaceX’s lockup expires, freeing roughly 911.5 million insider and employee shares, worth well over $100 billion at current prices and the largest such release in Wall Street history. A second, larger tranche tied to the stock trading 30 percent above its $135 IPO price never triggered, since shares have spent most of July trading below that price.
Wall Street’s models point to revenue near $6.9 billion for the quarter, up sharply from the $4.69 billion SpaceX reported in the first quarter, with a narrower per share loss than the $1.27 posted three months earlier, according to estimates compiled by Motley Fool. Those numbers will be the first look at how SpaceX’s three segments, Starlink, launch and AI, are performing independently.
SpaceX scores another massive Pentagon deal to support military satellites
Investors heading into the call have a specific list of questions. How many net new Starlink subscribers did SpaceX add after ending March with 10.3 million, and is average revenue per user holding up as the service expands into lower income markets. How much of the AI segment’s revenue reflects contract signings with Anthropic, Google and Reflection AI this year, deals that combined could annualize to nearly $28 billion if fully ramped. Whether capital expenditures, which nearly doubled in the AI segment alone between 2024 and 2025, are still accelerating or starting to plateau. And whether management offers any forward guidance at all, something SpaceX has never done publicly.
The report will also land days after Elon Musk publicly denied a Wall Street Journal report describing internal planning to separate Tesla’s China business ahead of a potential Tesla-SpaceX merger. Whether Musk or SpaceX executives address that speculation on the call, even indirectly, maybe something investors will be listening for on Tuesday.
As Teslarati reported after Musk’s own warning to short sellers last week, the CEO has made clear he expects skeptics to be proven wrong over time. Tuesday will be the first chance for the numbers themselves to make that case.
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