TSLA: Tesla Stock Bruises Short Sellers with 15% Jump on Self-Driving Rollout in China

Short sellers have lost nearly $5.5 billion over the past four trading days while Tesla has added 35% to its stock price.

• Tesla stock TSLA took off Monday, adding more than 15% to its valuation after Elon Musk struck a deal with China to roll out Tesla’s “Full Self-Driving,” or FSD, software feature. The announcement wrapped up a series of meetings between Elon Musk and top Beijing officials, including Chinese Premier Li Qiang. The news added to a string of positive trading performance for the stock, which is up more than 35% for the past four trading days.
• Short sellers — those who bet against a company — got hurt in the meantime. According to data firm S3 Partners, investors holding bearish bets have lost roughly $5.5 billion while Tesla was whizzing through its monster comeback. On Monday alone, Tesla’s gains yanked out nearly $3 billion from the hands of the sour short sellers. On the flip side, shares of Tesla are down about 20% this year, netting $4.1 billion for Tesla’s reverse-investors.
• Markets are now waiting to see if Tesla’s terrible share-price performance has finally plateaued. Elon Musk helped overturn the spiraling stock when he announced during the earnings call that a more affordable electric car is coming by the end of the year or early next year.