‘Tesla is destroying the competition’

Tesla shares rose 6.1 percent as a noted short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research said he is now betting on the stock ahead of the company’s earnings report on Wednesday.

“Citron is long Tesla as the Model 3 is a proven hit and many of the TSLA warning signs have proven not to be significant,” said Left in a blog post Tuesday. “Plain and simple – Tesla is destroying the competition.”

“TSLA is not just pulling customers from BMW and Mercedes but also from Toyota and Honda. Like a magic trick, while everyone is focused on Elon smoking weed, he is quietly smoking the whole automotive industry,” Left said.

Left presented several charts to illustrate why he believes in Tesla’s dominance, citing data from the company and an electric vehicle promotional website.

“Tesla appears to be the only company that can actually produce and sell electric cars,” Left said.

Left confirmed that he is still suing Tesla, despite changing his stock position.

“Yes, we are still suing Musk and Tesla and this recent report has no bearing on the current lawsuit,” Left said.

Left’s lawsuit alleges CEO Elon Musk manipulated the price of Tesla stock with materially false and misleading information. Specifically citing Musk’s infamous Aug. 7 tweet about taking Tesla private, Left’s lawsuit alleges Musk saying that funding for the company was “secured” is “a textbook case of fraud.”

“We believe Musk attempted to manipulate the price of Tesla securities with false and misleading tweets, in a directed effort to harm short-sellers,” Left’s lawyer said in a press release.