4. As a unique technology black horse in the US stock market, Tesla is currently plagued by negative news.
The data shows that more than a quarter of the company's current tradable shares are being lent to investors who are betting that their share price will fall, making it the worst-selling company in the US stock market. Last week's CEO Eron Musk was at ' After the short-selling voice, it revealed on Twitter that the company will privatize the heavy news, so that the stock price soared. Afterwards, Musk’s move was not only questioned by many parties, but also led to the investigation by the US Securities and Exchange Commission, and even more investment banks significantly lowered their target price. On the current issue of the supplier's delay in payment due to Tesla's delay in payment, model 3 high rework rate and executives resigned, Tesla is currently in deep trouble.
Privatization
On August 7, Musk posted on Twitter, saying that Tesla would be privatized at a price of $420 per share, which was more than 20% premium to the current share price, and said the privatization funds had been implemented. Calculated at $420 per share, Tesla's value will reach $71.3 billion. As the heavy news was released during the trading hours, the stock price soared. Tesla's share price soared 7% after the news was released in 1 hour and 20 minutes. The transaction was then suspended for an hour and a half, and the day closed up 11%, and the short-selling losses were heavy.
For listed companies, such material news must be thoroughly discussed internally and published through official channels. Musk has not only issued official news and issued during stock trading hours, so the next day the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) is looking for Come to the door.
In fact, Musk later revealed on Tesla's official website that the privatization 'the qi' comes from the Saudi sovereign wealth fund (PIF), which discussed the investment of Tesla two years ago and supported the company's privatization, he estimated that about 2/ Investors in 3 will continue to hold shares after delisting. However, Saudi sovereign wealth funds are not satisfied with this attitude.
Since then, Musk has re-issued Twitter, saying that he is working with the company's financial advisor Silver Lake and Goldman Sachs to advance the privatization process. But when Reuters asked Silver Lake Capital, Silver Lake Capital said it is not currently involved in Tesla. Privatization transactions, Goldman Sachs is not a formal advisor to Musk. The privatization has completely turned into 'Rashomon', Tesla shares fell immediately, as of August 22, Tesla shares reported $321, compared to Musk The reported $420 privatization price differs by $99.
Currently, the SEC investigates Tesla's privatization plan and Musk's claim that 'acquisition funds are secured', and also summoned Tesla's directors to provide details on the communication of Musk's privatization plan. It’s not true that La’s privatization funds have been “following”, so Musk’s CEO as Tesla is suspected of manipulating stock prices. According to US securities laws, if regulators determine that Tesla and its executives mislead investors, Tesla and his executives may face sanctions. Former SEC Chairman Laura Unger believes that Musk's original Twitter is not authentic and accurate, claiming that privatization funds 'have' is clearly misleading.
Mask cries for controversy
In order to quell market doubts, Musk accepted an interview with The New York Times on Friday. In the interview, Musk teased the pressure of the past, saying that the past year was the 'most difficult and painful year of his career. Regarding Tesla's privatization time, Musk explained that no one had reviewed it before he posted. He hoped that the purchase price would be about 20% higher than the transaction price, about $419, and he would round up to $420.
Musk's crying did not alleviate the doubts, but exposed the management's regulatory problems. In addition, he also revealed in the interviews the habit of relying on drug sleep, and even taking entertainment drugs that make pleasure. Some Tesla's directors Worried, he took these drugs not only did not let him fall asleep, but also caused him to post on Twitter in the middle of the night.
CNBC news host Jim Cramer bluntly said that the effect of this interview was simply catastrophic. For Musk, the safest thing is to take sick leave. Afterwards, Tesla's share price has fallen sharply, and the decline was only 9 on Friday. %. Ironically, after Tesla's share price plummeted, the Saudi sovereign fund was on the weekend thinking about investing in Tesla's rival Lucid.
On Monday, JPMorgan analyst Ryan Brinkman published a research report saying that it will reassess the company's fundamentals. It is too early to think that the privatization will be included in Tesla's valuation. The bank has lowered Tesla's target price from $308 to $195, a drop of more than 40%, directly returned to the level before August 8. JPMorgan said that although the company has a series of actions, it only shows that the relevant privatization is possible. If the key three assumptions are not met (received To the formal proposal, the relevant funds have been determined, the board of directors at least informal support), then the previous assumptions about the privatization of the company's valuation is not established. This is undoubtedly worse for Tesla on the cusp.
Suppliers question the capital chain
Due to the large amount of capital spent on R&D, production, and operations, some suppliers are worried about the deterioration of Tesla's financial situation. Since the fourth quarter of 2010, Tesla has only two quarters of free cash flow is positive. The company currently has more than 10 billion US dollars. Debt.
The American Association of Original Equipment Manufacturers conducted a survey before, and at least 35 suppliers responded to the questionnaire, 23 of which were past or present suppliers of Tesla, and 18 of these suppliers believed that Tesla had become theirs. The source of financial risks, and eight suppliers worry that Tesla will file for bankruptcy, and 13 of them said that Tesla asked them to 'substantially cut prices'. A component supplier said Tesla asked for it. The cost is reduced by 10%, otherwise the payment period will be extended from 60 days to 120 days. 11 suppliers said that Tesla asked them to extend the payment period, and another supplier said that Tesla stopped last spring. Payment, he is worried that his company will go bankrupt because of continuous delivery but not getting money.
According to public information, since October last year, a total of 16 Tesla suppliers have applied for 'mechanic' s liens, compared with only 4 in 2015 and 2016. Legal experts said From the supplier's application, the construction lien for the automaker is rare. The supplier will generally apply for the customer's financial problems, so as to protect their right to reimbursement.
Recently, some media broke the Tesla Model's 3-week capacity is approaching 8,000 vehicles, which is higher than the 5,000 vehicles in June. Such a large output has brought tremendous pressure on cash flow. According to an internal document, Tesla is in the process. In the last week of June, it reached its key production target, but more than 4,300 of the 5,000 Model 3 cars produced in a single week needed to be reworked, which means that the first qualified rate of Model 3 was about 14% during the week. Such a high rework rate, The production cost will increase accordingly. Not only that, Tesla's high-level management capabilities and strategic layout have also been questioned. Since the second half of 2016, more than 30 executives have left.