(Bloomberg) -- A dismal month for Tesla Inc. shares has been a boon for bearish investors betting against Elon Musk's electric-vehicle maker.
Mark-to-market profits for short sellers have exceeded $1 billion in May, making the month among the most profitable for bears since 2016, according to data from S3 Analytics. While there has been a slight spike in short covering over the past week, Tesla continues to be one of the most popular short positions among U.S. stocks, S3 said in a research note.
And 2019 is turning out to be a rebound year for Tesla bears. Short sellers are up $3.88 billion in mark-to-market profits in less than five months in 2019, versus a loss of $1.4 billion in 2018. They took a $3.56 billion hit in 2017, according to S3.
Tesla has fallen 20% since May 6, the day before it closed a $2.4 billion offering of shares and convertible debt, shedding more than $8 billion in market value. About 29% of shares available to trade were on loan to short sellers on Monday, according to S3 data. That's down from 30% at the start of last week.
To contact the reporter on this story: Jeran Wittenstein in San Francisco at jwittenstei1@bloomberg.net
To contact the editors responsible for this story: Catherine Larkin at clarkin4@bloomberg.net, Richard Richtmyer
©2019 Bloomberg L.P.
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