Short Hills Capital Partners' Stephen Weiss would rather short Tesla than own it

Published Thu, Dec 8 20221:37 PM ESTUpdated Thu, Dec 8 20221:50 PM EST

Stephen Weiss, the chief investment officer and managing partner of Short Hills Capital Partners, is very bearish on Tesla stock. "I'd be more predisposed to shorting it than owning it," Weiss said on CNBC's " Halftime Report " on Thursday. There are a few reasons for Weiss' negative view on the electric vehicle maker. CEO Elon Musk's busy schedule is one of them. Currently, Musk is running SpaceX, the Boring Company, Tesla and Twitter, which Weiss added is a "complete nightmare." "Why would you ever want to own their company?" he said. Headwinds for Tesla, EVs In addition, he sees rising competition, a lack of infrastructure and a weak economy as major headwinds for Tesla going forward. Early on, Tesla's main competitor was the Toyota Prius, which was owned mostly by "people that wore Birkenstocks," and not seen as a major threat, according to Weiss. "Now you look in a garage, you look anywhere, and you see tremendous cars that make Teslas look like Model Ts," he said, pointing to models from Ford and Porsche. "So competition is here, that has always been the Achilles' heel." He added that he isn't as bullish on electric vehicles due to a lack of infrastructure that would make it difficult for mass adoption. Basically, there aren't enough charging stations for it to make sense outside of being a local vehicle, he said. The weak economy and the fact that the company has had to increase incentives for buyers doesn't help, he said. "You've got all these headwinds not only against Tesla ... but also against the industry that will play out maybe in six months or a year," Weiss said. This year, Tesla has shed about 50%. Not all investors agree with Weiss' bearish view, however. Brenda Vingiello, chief investment officer of Sand Hill Global Advisors, said Thursday that her firm is continuing to hold onto its Tesla position even though it's been "volatile and disappointing" this year. "We believe in the long-term story here," she said. Beyond his views on Tesla, Weiss recently sold Dick's Sporting Goods and Honeywell for profit in a rough environment to make money. He also sold shares of Merck , but said he still likes the company overall.