When Elon Musk speaks, Wall Street listens — and that’s not good for Tesla.
Twitter rant called unwise as settlement awaits judge’s OK
When Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk speaks, Wall Street listens. And on Friday, Wall Street showed what it thought of Musk’s latest words.
And it wasn’t good.
Tesla shares fell 7 percent, to close Friday at $261.95, as investors assessed Musk’s Thursday Twitter rant in which he made fun of the Securities and Exchange Commission and then took shots at stock short-sellers, whom Musk blames for much of Wall Street’s negative sentiment toward Tesla.
“Just want to (sic) that the Shortseller Enrichment Commission is doing incredible work,” Musk tweeted. “And the name change is so on point!”
It would be one thing for a CEO to publicly resort to name-calling of the SEC. But in the case of Musk, the statement comes fraught with potential recriminations for him, and Tesla, as it was just nine days ago when Musk and Tesla reached an agreement to settle fraud charges the SEC had levied against Musk over his August tweets claiming he had secured funding to take Tesla private for $420 a share.
With Friday’s losses, Tesla’s shares have fallen 31 percent since closing at $379.57 on Aug. 7, when Musk first mentioned his plan to take the company private.
The SEC settlement allows Musk to remain as Tesla’s CEO, but he must give up his Tesla’s board chairmanship. In addition, Musk and Tesla must each pay a $20 million fine to the SEC, and Tesla is required to put in place “additional controls and procedures to oversee Musk’s communication.”
Musk’s latest tweets left some wondering just what he was thinking, and if Tesla really will try to rein in its CEO.
“The tweets show very poor judgment and present a significant, and completely unnecessary risk, for existing shareholders and those considering buying the stock,” said Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst with CFRA. “It’s really unwise, as he is on thin ice with the (federal) regulators.”
Shortly after Musk took a stab at the SEC, he was back on Twitter, taking on stock short sellers — investors who “borrow” shares of a stock with the belief that they will be able to make a profit when the stock’s value goes down — and how he views those investors as harming traditional Tesla stock buyers.
“The big funds can & will, as they’re suffering a net loss. Index managers like Blackrock pocket (sic) make excessive profit from short lending while pretending to charge low rates for ‘passive’ index tracking,” Musk tweeted, and then added, “There is no rational basis for a long holder to lend their stock to shorts, as it dilutes the shareholder base & gives the short a strong incentive to attack the company by whatever means possible, including regulators.”
The deal between Musk and Tesla, and the SEC, still needs the approval of U.S. District Judge Allison Nathan. On Thursday, Nathan told Musk and the SEC to write her a 10-page, double-spaced joint letter explaining why she should sign off on the agreement. Nathan has set an Oct. 11 deadline for the letter to be submitted.
Nelson said that even with Musk’s jab at the SEC, he thinks the deal will get Nathan’s approval because “Tesla will argue the tweet was parody and protected speech.”
However, Nelson said Tesla’s board, which is supposed to add two more independent members as part of the SEC deal, needs to stop wasting time about overseeing Musk’s communications methods, and that Musk should put his attention toward more important matters.
“They (Tesla’s board) better implement these measures sooner rather than later,” Nelson said. “And Musk needs to focus on the operations on the company, the Model 3 (production) ramp and proving that investors should put their money into the company’s stock.”