"Bulls Who Said 'Buy Tesla No Matter What' Sold All Their Shares in Q1 This Year"

[Image source=Yonhap News]

Longtime 'bulls' who were optimistic about Tesla, the largest electric vehicle company in the US, have recently started to turn away one by one.

According to global investment analysis firm Morningstar on the 5th, among the 18 mutual funds tracked by the firm, 10 funds reduced their Tesla holdings in the first quarter. Among the funds that reduced their holdings, 4 sold more than 15% of their shares.

Tesla's stock price, which soared about 14 times over the past five years, has fallen about 30% since the beginning of this year. This is due to a slowdown in global electric vehicle demand and the emerging sense of crisis caused by the onslaught of low-priced Chinese electric vehicles.

Tanaka Growth Fund, which manages assets worth $21.5 million, was known as a representative asset management company advocating a bullish view on Tesla, but it was revealed that it sold all its shares in the first half of this year. The Gavely Fund, which bought 65,900 Tesla shares at the beginning of 2022, also sold all its shares during the same period.

Gerber Kawasaki Wells and Investment, which purchased 500,000 Tesla shares about 10 years ago, has steadily sold shares this year, and it is now estimated to hold only 300,000 shares. The reason for reducing Tesla holdings was cited as the political and cultural risks associated with Elon Musk, Tesla's CEO.

Gerber Kawasaki Wells and Investment estimated that as long as CEO Musk maintains control of Tesla, the fair stock price would remain about 40% lower than the current price, at $100.

However, there are still many investment firms taking an optimistic position on Tesla. This is because Tesla continues to attempt full autonomous driving and is pushing to enter its largest market, China.

For these reasons, Wedbush Securities recently set Tesla's target stock price at $275, about 56% higher than the current price.

Domestically, Ark Investment, led by CEO Cathie Wood, famous as the 'Money Tree Sister,' was confirmed to have increased its Tesla holdings by about 10% during the first quarter of this year.

However, the investment industry pointed out that the shortage of Nvidia's artificial intelligence (AI) chips and global technology regulations causing delays in Tesla's autonomous driving technology could pose risks of delays in various businesses, which is a negative factor for Tesla's stock price.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.