Short-seller Mark Spiegel believes Tesla will suffer from new competition in the electric car market.
The noted skeptic of the electric car maker reiterated his bearish stance on the company saying his speech “almost seems redundant” after Musk’s bizarre conference call performance last night.
“Tesla is still a zero,” he said at the Kase Learning: The Art, Pain and Opportunity of Short Selling conference in New York. “Tesla’s financials are horrible and worsening even before massive competition coming later this year … [The company has] no moat of any kind.”
Spiegel noted Tesla’s losses are still rising even as it sells more cars and after 15 years as a company.
The investor said major luxury brands will launch new, more attractive electric cars later this year and in 2019. He cited the pipelines from Jaguar, Audi, Porsche and Mercedes.
“There is a massive number of long-range electric cars that will soon be on the market,” he said.
The investor downplayed Tesla’s supposed advantage in batteries from its Gigafactory.
“Tesla battery cells are made by Panasonic,” he said. “No other automaker wants to use them.”
Spiegel is managing member and portfolio manager of Stanphyl Capital Partners. Previously he was an investment banker at Piper Jaffray.
Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
