New York — Tesla shares soared as much as 15% on Thursday, a day after the company reported results, and financial analytics firm S3 Partners said short-sellers were slammed with more than $1.1bn in paper losses on the day. S3 said the day’s losses pushed the aggregate year-to-date performance of short-sellers in Tesla into the red. Short-sellers aim to profit by selling borrowed shares, hoping to buy them back later at a lower price. Tesla is the most shorted US stock. Tesla short-sellers had been up $276m in year-to-date mark-to-market profits prior to the day’s rally, and the short-sellers’ paper losses have now swollen to $831m for the year, S3 data showed. "We are not seeing a large amount of buy to covers yet," said Ihor Dusaniwsky, head of research at S3 in New York, referring to traders buying shares to close out an existing short position. "With such a large price move on the open, most short-sellers that are looking to cover are waiting for a retracement before placing buy...
Would you like to comment on this article?
Sign up (it's quick and free) or sign in now.
Please read our Comment Policy before commenting.
Subscribe now to unlock this article.
Support BusinessLIVE’s award-winning journalism for R129 per month (digital access only).
There’s never been a more important time to support independent journalism in SA. Our subscription packages now offer an ad-free experience for readers.
Cancel anytime.
Questions? Email helpdesk@businesslive.co.za or call 0860 52 52 00. Got a subscription voucher? Redeem it now.