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Tesla shares plunged by double digits on Friday for its worst session since November 2013 after the SEC sued CEO Elon Musk for fraud. Here's what five experts had to say about the stock and the controversial CEO:
- "I don't think it's a long, I think it's a difficult short," noted short seller Andrew Left of Citron Research said. "I'm surprised that shareholders are shocked that he's getting charged, of course he was going to get charged by the SEC," he added.
- "I'd say [there's a] greater than 50 percent [chance], that [Musk] gets removed. But I also want to stress that that is in my book, actually, a positive outcome as crazy as that is. I think his role is best as a product visionary," Loup Ventures founder Gene Munster explained.
- Gabe Hoffman, owner and general partner of Accipter Capital Management thinks the moment Musk is out as CEO of Tesla, it is "no longer a cult stock of Elon Musk's hopes, dreams and lies. You have to actually value Tesla as a business..[and] I believe the financials show you that Tesla is a very troubled business on the precipice of financial collapse."
- "Certainly in the short-term, the stock is going to take a hit," said Rebecca Lindland, executive analyst at Kelley Blue Book. "But it may not be as low as people expect as people come in and buy, and it could be that in the long-term the company is fine."
- "Either way you cut it, the valuation is absurd, and the stock has been going up primarily because of Mr. Musk's brand and vision," stated Needham analyst Rajvindra Gill.
Bottom line: Wall Street analysts expect a bump road for Tesla as the fate of its CEO and founder hang in the balance.
