Investor Predicts Tesla Could "Go Bust"

"This was really the beginning of the end of the Tesla bubble."

Falling Short

Tesla is in for a year of hurt.

Earlier this week, the electric car manufacturer posted its first-quarter earnings, alarming investors with worse-than-expected results headlined by a 20 percent quarter-over-quarter drop in deliveries.

Analysts, especially those bearish on the Elon Musk-led venture, are expecting the worst. Hedge fund manager Per Lekander, who has been shorting the EV maker's stock since 2020, told CNBC that he expects this quarter to be "the beginning of the end of the Tesla bubble, which probably, arguably was the biggest stock market bubble in modern history."

"I actually think the company could go bust," he added.

Grim Outlook

Of course, Lekander's comments should be taken with a healthy grain of salt, considering his financial interest in seeing the Elon Musk-led company's shares stumble.

Nonetheless, Tesla's shares have fallen over 30 percent this year, the result of a surge in competition, particularly from China, as well as slowing overall demand for EVs and disillusionment over Tesla's polarizing CEO.

Lekander's track record is mixed, having correctly predicted Tesla's stocks to go down in March 2021, per CNBC. Other calls, however, like the time he predicted Volkswagen to rally, have turned out to be wrong.

The hedge fund manager is expecting Tesla's stock to drop to just $14, a whopping 91 percent fall.

"I think however Tesla cannot be at $14," he told CNBC. "If it falls under a certain level because of everything that’s been going on, it’s going to go bust."

Lekander argued that Tesla was dealing with a "demand problem" and that a rumored followup to the Model 3, a smaller and cheaper car, likely won't hit the market in time to prop up the company.

"I don’t see any reason whatsoever to see any recovery over the next two years given that these models are stale and given the economy is not rocketing," Lekander told CNBC.

Lekander is far from the only investor voicing concerns. Longtime Tesla bull and Wedbush analyst Dan Ives called the company's impending first quarter a "nightmare" last week.

"For Musk this is a fork in the road time to get Tesla through this turbulent period, otherwise darker days could be ahead," he added at the time.

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