Tesla Investors Brush Off Burry's 'Ridiculously Overvalued' Warning
The electric vehicle giant is riding high on its promising future growth prospects, with some investors confident that CEO Elon Musk's $1 trillion stock-based compensation plan will justify the company's lofty valuation. Famed short seller Michael Burry has cautioned against this optimism, warning that Tesla's management hasn't adequately informed shareholders about the impending share dilution tied to Musk's massive pay package.
Burry's concerns are centered around the impact of dilution on the company's profitability and value per-share basis. As new shares are issued for stock-based compensation, the market value is spread across a larger number of shares, pushing down earnings per share and potentially leading to selling pressure if management fails to counterbalance this with buybacks or rapid growth.
However, Tesla bulls argue that the company's long-term options outweigh the concerns about dilution. Musk's new pay package, like the one approved in 2018, is structured similarly to the previous plan, which didn't raise significant issues due to Tesla's meteoric expansion from $54 billion in 2018 to $650 billion in 2023.
"We'll see some dilution, but not much," said Noah Hamman, founder and CEO of EFT investor AdvisorShares. "The resulting valuation will be huge." Hamman noted that the company's broad technological footprint, including EVs, autonomous vehicles, robotaxis, energy storage, and software, means it can't be valued as a pure-play automotive company.
Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, also backed some of Burry's views, but disagreed with his criticism of Tesla's valuation. "Burry's core point is right: stock-based comp is not 'free' — it's equity issuance used to pay wages, and the bill shows up as dilution," he said.
Tuttle argued that Tesla's broad technological footprint means it can't be valued on conventional metrics for a long time if one of its options "hits at scale." This suggests that investors are willing to overlook Burry's concerns about dilution in favor of the company's promising growth prospects and diversified business model.
The electric vehicle giant is riding high on its promising future growth prospects, with some investors confident that CEO Elon Musk's $1 trillion stock-based compensation plan will justify the company's lofty valuation. Famed short seller Michael Burry has cautioned against this optimism, warning that Tesla's management hasn't adequately informed shareholders about the impending share dilution tied to Musk's massive pay package.
Burry's concerns are centered around the impact of dilution on the company's profitability and value per-share basis. As new shares are issued for stock-based compensation, the market value is spread across a larger number of shares, pushing down earnings per share and potentially leading to selling pressure if management fails to counterbalance this with buybacks or rapid growth.
However, Tesla bulls argue that the company's long-term options outweigh the concerns about dilution. Musk's new pay package, like the one approved in 2018, is structured similarly to the previous plan, which didn't raise significant issues due to Tesla's meteoric expansion from $54 billion in 2018 to $650 billion in 2023.
"We'll see some dilution, but not much," said Noah Hamman, founder and CEO of EFT investor AdvisorShares. "The resulting valuation will be huge." Hamman noted that the company's broad technological footprint, including EVs, autonomous vehicles, robotaxis, energy storage, and software, means it can't be valued as a pure-play automotive company.
Matthew Tuttle, CEO of Tuttle Capital Management, also backed some of Burry's views, but disagreed with his criticism of Tesla's valuation. "Burry's core point is right: stock-based comp is not 'free' — it's equity issuance used to pay wages, and the bill shows up as dilution," he said.
Tuttle argued that Tesla's broad technological footprint means it can't be valued on conventional metrics for a long time if one of its options "hits at scale." This suggests that investors are willing to overlook Burry's concerns about dilution in favor of the company's promising growth prospects and diversified business model.