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Elon Musk is using Tesla as his personal ‘ATM’ after withdrawing another $3.5 billion in cash from stocks. Wedbush’s Dan Ives said it was a ‘shipwreck situation’.


Elon Musk sold another $3.58 billion in Tesla stocks this week, bringing his total since November of last year to nearly $40 billion—and investors aren’t happy about that.

Wedbush tech analyst Dan Ives argues that Musk is using his “golden baby” Tesla to fund more than just the start. 44 billion USD his expenses Twitter acquisition, but also to stem the social media giant’s losses.

“The Twitter nightmare continues,” he wrote in a Thursday research note. “Musk uses Tesla as its own ATM machine to continue funding Twitter, which is getting worse every day.”

Twitter has struggled to turn a stable profit throughout its history as a public company, but it was privatized by Musk that cost the company a sizable $13 billion in debt, to boot. Before the acquisition, Twitter only had $1.7 billion in debt, but now it will have to pay $1.2 billion in interest each year.

Ives has long been a Tesla supporter, but he recently removed the EV giant from Wedbush’s Top ideas The list comes courtesy of Musk’s equity sales – which account for more than 75% of the $52 billion market value of the world’s fifth-largest automaker, Ford.

Ives wrote that he believes Musk has tarnished Tesla’s reputation with his Twitter takeover and then “argumentative” in the media.

investor frustration is growing as the Musk brand has rapidly deteriorated over the past six months and has gotten worse since he officially took ownership of Twitter,” he said, adding that Advertisers are fleeing Twitter, leaving Musk in “a pile of rubble”. situation.”

Tesla shares are down more than 60% this year and 17% this month amid Musk sales and an ongoing bear market for stocks. Tesla CEO even lost his title as a person richest man in the world this month to French billionaire Bernard Arnault.

“Until it’s all over?” Ives wrote. “Musk continues to add fuel to the fire around the Tesla story by selling more stock and creating a decline in the Tesla brand through his actions on Twitter.”

Musk’s latest Tesla sales may surprise loyal investors in the company, because the Tesla CEO said in April that he’s finished selling stock.

“There are no plans to sell any more TSLAs after today,” he tweeted.

Ives isn’t so sure, noting that this isn’t the first time Musk has said one thing and done another, selling $6.9 billion worth of Tesla stock in August and another $3.95 billion in November.

Ives said the sales “put a lot of pressure” on Tesla’s stock.

“Here’s a boy crying in a wolf situation with the Street and the bulls worrying about what’s going to happen to Musk in this Tesla and Twitter cobweb,” he wrote.

Ives also wrote that he believes investor frustration with Musk’s sales will eventually boil over, forcing Tesla’s Board of Directors to “face some of these issues head-on in the meantime.” next.”

“This is a moment of truth for Musk and Tesla (and the Board of Directors).

Despite the tough period for Tesla, Ives remains optimistic about the electric car giant in the long run. He argued that once Twitter’s “overhang” fades, Tesla’s long-term growth story will become the focus of investors, helping the stock rise.

Wedbush holds an “outperform” rating on Tesla shares—the equivalent of a “buy” rating—and a $250 price target over 12 months.

This story was originally featured on Fortune.com

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