Investor's Corner
Tesla manufacturing prowess, stock split plans indicate ‘massive position of strength:’ Wedbush
Tesla’s (NASDAQ: TSLA) second stock split in as many years and its manufacturing capacity, which has already grown considerably with new factory openings in 2022, indicate a “massive position of strength” for the electric automaker, according to Wedbush analyst Dan Ives. Ives, who has held a bullish position on Tesla for years, sees parallels in Tesla’s move for another stock split with Amazon, Google, and Apple’s strategies.
“Tesla right now is in a massive position of strength in terms of where they’re heading from a manufacturing perspective, in terms of Berlin, as well as Austin and overall demand,” Ives said to Yahoo! Finance in an interview. “They have that high-class problem of a four-digit stock. And I think it’s something where you could always have the debate, but a stock split is a smart strategic move for Tesla, just like it was for Amazon, just like it was for Google, as well as for Apple.”
Tesla’s last stock split, which took place in August 2020, gave young and retail investors the opportunity to get in on the stock as it rose to astronomical levels. Shares were trading at three times the value compared to the beginning of the year, and when Tesla announced the split on August 11, shares were trading at around $1,450.00. Shares exploded to $2,000 when the stock split at the end of August 2020. The price reset at around $460 per share.
Tesla stock has bumped in value considerably over the past month, up over 25 percent since February 28. The automaker’s opening of the Gigafactory Berlin facility in Germany earlier this month was a bullish move as Tesla has been waiting for approval on the factory for about six months. Additionally, Tesla will open its new Gigafactory Texas plant in Austin soon, as it is still awaiting approval on a final version of the Model Y crossover, according to EPA documents.
The stock split is Ives’ biggest focus, especially as Tesla just announced it would let shareholders vote on the proposal during the annual meeting this Summer. After shares dipped earlier this month due to “inflation pressure” that surged vehicle prices upward, the stock has performed a major turnaround and worked its way toward a potential split.
“You don’t buy it because of a stock split,” Ives added to his commentary during the interview. “You buy it because fundamentally where you think it’s gonna go, but the stock split is gonna be something that is a catalyst.” Ives went on to mention the stock split has been a major discussion amongst investors for several months. “I think it was smart to get out there,” Ives said.
The frequency of Tesla stock splits is a major indicator of strength in Ives’ eyes. A “company that’s gonna do their second split in two years is not doing it because they’re in a position of weakness. I think it shows a position of strength,” Ives said.
Last week, Ives told Teslarati “Musk is flexing his muscles with the Berlin and Austin build-outs, and within the EV landscape, at this point, it’s Tesla’s world and everyone else is paying rent.”
Ives holds a $1,400 price target on Tesla stock and is ranked #86 out of 7,918 analysts on TipRanks.
Disclosure: Joey Klender is a TSLA Shareholder.
I’d love to hear from you! If you have any comments, concerns, or questions, please email me at joey@teslarati.com. You can also reach me on Twitter @KlenderJoey, or if you have news tips, you can email us at tips@teslarati.com.
Tesla short sellers won big following the company’s massive fall on Wall Street after it reported subpar Earnings on Wednesday.
Tesla short sellers collected about $4.12 billion in single-day profits on Thursday, according to Bloomberg. Shares fell as much as 15 percent during Thursday’s session. It closed as one of the worst days for Tesla on Wall Street in the past three years.
Investors sold off the stock after Tesla said it would aggressively direct its spending toward AI and its Optimus robot project. The company had record revenues, which were driven by one of the strongest quarters in terms of vehicle deliveries in company history.
However, it missed EPS estimates by reporting just $0.33, a far cry from the $0.53 analysts expected.
S3 Partners reported that about 3 percent of Tesla’s outstanding stock is sold short. Managing Director at S3, Ihor Dusaniwsky, provided the short seller’s potential profit, as well as another figure: shorts have likely had paper gains of $8.92 billion this year, as Tesla shares are down 30 percent in 2026.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Tesla has burned short sellers many times in the past, but the company’s latest Earnings Call was a chance for those skeptics to taste some payback. Although the company gave some very transparent information regarding future projects, the rollout of Robotaxi, Optimus, and Semi, many investors took their profits on Thursday.
Notable short sellers like Michael Burry have been transparent about their skepticism around Tesla shares. Burry just revealed three weeks ago that he had opened up a new short on the stock, stating he shorted Tesla shares at $416.22. “Happy it jumped back to this level,” he said in a blog post.
At the time of publication, Tesla shares were down about 3 percent and the stock was trading at $309.92.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) endured one of its sharpest single-day declines in years on July 23, tumbling approximately 14.5 percent and closing near $320 after opening the session around $374. The drop erased more than $140 billion in market value amid heavy trading volume and left the shares at multi-week lows.
The sell-off followed the company’s second-quarter 2026 results, released the previous evening. Tesla reported record revenue of $28.2 billion, up 26 percent year over year, driven by a Q2-record 480,126 vehicle deliveries. Energy storage deployments also rose strongly.
Tesla (TSLA) Q2 2026 earnings results: miss on EPS, beat on revenue
Yet profitability disappointed sharply. Operating income fell 57 percent to $398 million, compressing the operating margin to just 1.4 percent. Non-GAAP earnings per share came in at $0.33, well below the roughly $0.53 analysts had expected. Free cash flow turned negative by $1.1 billion as capital expenditures surged 142 percent to $5.8 billion, largely tied to accelerated spending on artificial intelligence, robotics, and autonomous systems.
The losses on capex were expected, as Tesla said it would be spending heavily in 2026.
Investors also reacted to lingering uncertainty surrounding key product timelines. During the Earnings Call, management reiterated ambitions for Robotaxi deployment and the Optimus humanoid robot, but offered limited new concrete milestones, renewing questions about execution pace that have long accompanied Tesla’s ambitious roadmap.
The magnitude of the decline places it among Tesla’s more severe one-day percentage losses since its 2010 initial public offering. Historically, the two largest single-day drops (split-adjusted) remain September 8, 2020, when shares fell 21.1 percent amid broader market volatility and valuation concerns, and January 13, 2012, with a 19.3 percent plunge during the company’s early growth struggles.
Other notable declines include an 18.6 percent drop on March 16, 2020, at the onset of pandemic-related market turmoil. Thursday’s move ranks roughly ninth on the all-time list but stands out as the steepest in more than a year.
Despite the short-term pain, Tesla’s long-term trajectory has repeatedly recovered from such volatility. The latest results underscore both the strength of its core automotive and energy businesses and the near-term costs of heavy investment in next-generation technologies.
In a striking revelation that underscores the lucrative crossover between Big Tech and space exploration, Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company, disclosed a massive $94.1 billion equity stake in SpaceX following the rocket company’s blockbuster initial public offering earlier this year.
The disclosure came in Alphabet’s quarterly filing, marking the first time the long-held private investment has been publicly valued at market prices. Google was an early backer, investing alongside Fidelity in 2015 with roughly $500-900 million at a time when SpaceX was valued around $12 billion.
That bet has delivered extraordinary returns, roughly a hundredfold, transforming a strategic play on satellite internet and launch capabilities into one of Alphabet’s largest assets.
Google, $GOOGL, has said they hold $94 billion in SpaceX, $SPCX, shares after IPO.
— unusual_whales (@unusual_whales) July 23, 2026
Of the total holding, approximately $80 billion remains subject to short-term post-IPO lockup restrictions, preventing near-term sales. An additional $14.1 billion faces longer-term restrictions, extending into the third quarter of 2027. This structure limits immediate liquidity but protects against market volatility as SpaceX transitions into public trading.
The SpaceX position contributed significantly to gains in Alphabet’s broader investment portfolio, which also includes a major stake in AI leader Anthropic. Combined, these holdings helped drive nearly $100 billion in investment gains during the second quarter, providing a substantial boost to net income amid ongoing AI spending pressures.
Analysts view the disclosure as validation of Alphabet’s venture strategy beyond its core search and cloud businesses. The investment aligns with deeper ties, including reported multi-billion-dollar deals for AI computing capacity on SpaceX infrastructure. As SpaceX advances Starship flights, Starlink expansion, and ambitious Mars goals under Elon Musk, Google’s stake positions it to benefit from the commercialization of space.
For Alphabet, the windfall highlights how patient, forward-looking bets in transformative sectors can yield outsized rewards. While lockups temper short-term impact, the holding cements SpaceX as a cornerstone of Alphabet’s diversified portfolio in an era where aerospace, AI, and connectivity increasingly intersect. Investors will watch closely as restrictions lift and SpaceX’s public performance unfolds.
Tesla short sellers win big after shares fall after earnings
Tesla door handle saga gets its latest chapter and a big change is coming
