Musk “smoking” rest of auto industry

A short seller who’s been betting against Tesla Inc. has changed his tune and sent the shares surging by saying it is “smoking” the rest of the auto industry.

Citron Research’s Andrew Left said in a report Tuesday the electric-car maker is snatching customers from BMW, Mercedes, Toyota and Honda. In a Bloomberg Television interview, he said chief executive officer Elon Musk has distracted investors from a company that’s turning a corner.

“Elon Musk has made such a sideshow of himself that people started to forget about — including myself — the underlying business,” Left said on Bloomberg TV. “It’s a revolution that I actually underestimated — the way people are buying these cars.”

“While everyone is focused on Elon smoking weed, he is quietly smoking the whole automotive industry.”

Musk told employees as the quarter was coming to an end last month that the company was “very close to achieving profitability and proving the naysayers wrong.”

Indeed, Tesla has now reported net income of US$312 million for the third quarter, its first GAAP profit in two years, as revenue doubled amid increased production of its Model 3.

Revenue was US$6.82 billion against an estimate of US$6.33b.