Tesla has the makings of a controversial stock. It’s a company with products that are loved by its users and hated by its skeptics, and it’s led by a man that’s both admired by his supporters and loathed by his critics. It was then no surprise when Tesla became one of the most-shorted companies in the market. But amidst Tesla’s rise last year and the release of its Q1 2021 vehicle production and delivery report, it appears that TSLA bears, or at least a good number of them, are starting to go extinct.
A good overview of how a company is perceived could be found in the overall stance of analysts covering the stock. Among the 41 analysts covering TSLA today, 15 have a “Buy” rating, 14 maintain a “Hold” rating, and 12 have a “Sell” rating, as per data from Bloomberg. This suggests that Tesla remains quite polarizing, as Buy ratings typically outnumber Sell ratings 10-to-1 for stocks in the Dow Jones Industrial Average.
Tesla (TSLA) sets new records with with 184k vehicle deliveries in Q1 2021
The same is true for TSLA’s price targets. Tesla’s bull-bear spread between its highest price target ($1,036) and its lowest ($135) stands at $901, or about 133% of the current $661.75 stock price. In the Dow Jones Industrial Average, the average bull-bear spread for stocks is less than 50%. While Tesla has maintained its polarizing nature in the market, however, there is one metric that suggests that a TSLA bear exodus is taking place.
There was a time not too long ago when Tesla’s short-interest ratio was about 25%, which meant that one in every four shares was borrowed and sold by investors betting on the company to fail. Such a short-interest ratio was insane, as the average for stocks in the S&P 500 is just about 3%. Today, this ratio stands at just about 6%, which is still higher than average but significantly lower than its figures three years ago.
As noted in a Barron’s report, there is an important mitigating factor in Tesla’s short-interest ratio, in the form of hundreds of millions in convertible bonds outstanding, most of which were issued long ago and are capable of being converted into TSLA stock at around $65 per share. Considering that Tesla stock is worth more than 10x that amount today, the convertible bonds have rallied over 500% over the past year.
While this is great for convertible bond holders, numerous bond investors are actually not interested in Tesla stock. Instead, some are convertible arbitrage investors, who buy convertible bonds and short the underlying stock. This way, the arbitrage trader is able to lock in a notable bond yield. S3 Partners managing director of predictive analytics Ihor Dusaniwsky has noted that the bonds are “mostly held by hedge funds.” He also estimates that about half of Tesla’s current short interest might be part of a convertible arbitrage strategy.
If the S3 Partners’ executive’s estimates are accurate, it would suggest that about 22 million Tesla shares are sold short, or about 2.9% of TSLA stock. This number is substantial, but it is small compared to the 200 million TSLA shares sold short back in 2019. This does not mean to say that Tesla bears have entirely given up, of course, as some will likely remain with their short position for a long time to come. However, the declining number of TSLA shares that are sold short does suggest that bears, or at least a good number of them, may be throwing in the towel.
Former Goldman Sachs Asset Management CIO Gary Black has noted that the declining number of TSLA bears may be due to the fact that some critical bearish arguments against Tesla are being soundly debunked. One of these is the notion that Tesla’s share of the EV market will get drastically smaller as soon as other automakers enter the electric car segment. Despite the noise by proponents of this thesis, the opposite has been true, as more and more car buyers tend to leave gas-powered vehicles–not other electric cars like Tesla–when they purchase EVs made by other automakers.
Disclaimer: I am long TSLA
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News
Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’
It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.
Tesla is gamifying its Supercharging experience by offering a new “Charging Passport,” hoping to add a new layer to the ownership experience.
While it is not part of the Holiday Update, it is rolling out around the same time and offers a handful of cool new features.
Tesla’s Charging Passport will be available within the smartphone app and will give a yearly summary of your charging experience, helping encapsulate your travel for that year.
It will also include things like badges for special charging spots, among other metrics that will show all of the different places people have traveled to plug in for range.
Tesla has just introduced “Charging Passport,” a new yearly summary of your charging.
• Charging badges: Iconic Charging badge (for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc), Explorer badge, green saver badge, etc.
• Total unique Superchargers visited
•… pic.twitter.com/c1DHTWXpj7— Sawyer Merritt (@SawyerMerritt) December 8, 2025
Tesla will include the following metrics within the new Charging Passport option within the Tesla app:
- Charging badges: Iconic charging badges for visiting places like the Tesla Diner, Oasis Supercharger, etc., Explorer Badge, and more
- Total Unique Superchargers Visited
- Total Charging Sessions
- Total Miles Added during Charging Sessions
- Top Charging Day
- Longest Trip
- Favorite Charging Locations
This will give people a unique way to see their travels throughout the year, and although it is not necessarily something that is needed or adds any genuine value, it is something that many owners will like to look back on. After all, things like Spotify Wrapped and Apple Music Replay have been a great way for people to see what music they listened to throughout the year.
This is essentially Tesla’s version of that.
With a handful of unique Superchargers already active, Tesla is also building some new ones, like a UFO-inspired location in New Mexico, near Roswell.
Tesla is building a new UFO-inspired Supercharger in the heart of Alien country
News
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention.”
Tesla has launched its coolest gift idea ever, just a few weeks after it was announced.
Tesla is now giving owners the opportunity to gift Full Self-Driving for one month to friends or family through a new gifting program that was suggested to the company last month.
The program will enable people to send a fellow Tesla owner one month of the company’s semi-autonomous driving software, helping them to experience the Full Self-Driving suite and potentially help Tesla gain them as a subscriber of the program, or even an outright purchase.
Tesla is going to allow owners to purchase an FSD Subscription for another owner for different month options
You’ll be able to gift FSD to someone! https://t.co/V29dhf5URj
— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) November 3, 2025
Tesla has officially launched the program on its Shop. Sending one month of Full Self-Driving costs $112:
“Gift one month of Full Self-Driving (Supervised), which allows the vehicle to drive itself almost anywhere with minimal intervention. All sales are final. Can only be purchased and redeemed in the U.S. This gift card is valued at $112.00 and is intended to cover the price of one month of FSD (Supervised), including up to 13% sales tax. It is not guaranteed to cover the full monthly price if pricing or tax rates change. This gift card can be stored in Tesla Wallet and redeemed toward FSD (Supervised) or any other Tesla product or service that accepts gift card payments.”
Tesla has done a great job of expanding Full Self-Driving access over the past few years, especially by offering things like the Subscription program, free trials through referrals, and now this gift card program.
Gifting Full Self-Driving is another iteration of Tesla’s “butts in seats” strategy, which is its belief that it can flip consumers to its vehicles and products by simply letting people experience them.
There is also a reason behind pushing Full Self-Driving so hard, and it has to do with CEO Elon Musk’s compensation package. One tranche requires Musk to achieve a certain number of active paid Full Self-Driving subscriptions.
More people who try the suite are likely to pay for it over the long term.
News
Tesla expands Robotaxi app access once again, this time on a global scale
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
Tesla has expanded Robotaxi app access once again, but this time, it’s on a much broader scale as the company is offering the opportunity for those outside of North America to download the app.
Tesla Robotaxi is the company’s early-stage ride-hailing platform that is active in Texas, California, and Arizona, with more expansion within the United States planned for the near future.
Tesla said recently it plans to launch Robotaxi in Miami, Houston, Las Vegas, Phoenix, and Dallas.
The platform has massive potential, and Tesla is leaning on it to be a major contributor to even more disruption in the passenger transportation industry. So far, it has driven over 550,000 miles in total, with the vast majority of this coming from the Bay Area and Austin.
First Look at Tesla’s Robotaxi App: features, design, and more
However, Tesla is focusing primarily on rapid expansion, but most of this is reliant on the company’s ability to gain regulatory permission to operate the platform in various regions. The expansion plans go well outside of the U.S., as the company expanded the ability to download the app to more regions this past weekend.
So far, these are the areas it is available to download in:
- Japan
- Thailand
- Hong Kong
- South Korea
- Australia
- Taiwan
- Macau
- New Zealand
- Mexico
- U.S.
- Canada
Right now, while Tesla is focusing primarily on expansion, it is also working on other goals that have to do with making it more widely available to customers who want to grab a ride from a driverless vehicle.
One of the biggest goals it has is to eliminate safety monitors from its vehicles, which it currently utilizes in Austin in the passenger’s seat and in the driver’s seat in the Bay Area.
A few weeks ago, Tesla started implementing a new in-cabin data-sharing system, which will help support teams assist riders without anyone in the front of the car.
Tesla takes a step towards removal of Robotaxi service’s safety drivers
As Robotaxi expands into more regions, Tesla stands to gain tremendously through the deployment of the Full Self-Driving suite for personal cars, as well as driverless Robotaxis for those who are just hailing rides.
Things have gone well for Tesla in the early stages of the Robotaxi program, but expansion will truly be the test of how things operate going forward. Navigating local traffic laws and gaining approval from a regulatory standpoint will be the biggest hurdle to jump.
Tesla gamifies Supercharging with new ‘Charging Passport’
Tesla launches its coolest gift idea ever just a few weeks after it was announced
