The short-seller Andrew Left is changing his tune on Tesla Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). His research firm Citron Research called for the electric-car maker’s share price to rebound to $320, a 13% premium on its current value.
Left has been historically critical of Tesla — he’s even suing the company and its embattled CEO Elon Musk over a tweet in which Musk teased the idea of taking the company private. The Securities and Exchange Commission didn’t take kindly to his comments, levying $20 million in fines against Musk and Tesla and forcing the company to put controls in place to oversee Musk’s communications with investors.
READ: Elon Musk and Tesla settle fraud charges with SEC, to pay $40M fine
In a research report published Friday, Left acknowledged being short on the stock for several years, but said the companies' detractors were “over their skis.”
Citron’s reversal comes just as another lawsuit hit Musk and the Tesla board, this time from the law firm Grant & Eisenhofer on behalf of institutional investors Friday morning. The new suit argues that Musk’s tweets have hurt shareholders.
Whether or not Left is right to go long on Tesla, investors were energized regarding the stock, sending its share price up 2.7% to $284.14.
Contact Andrew Kessel at andrew.kessel@proactiveinvestors.com
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