Sell Your Tesla Dump Your Stock

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That was one of the chants at the #TeslaTakedown event I attended in Chicago last Saturday. But selling your Tesla car is not easy. There isn’t much of a market for used Teslas in this area. There’s a similar problem in Boston. And Seattle. It seems to be a world-wide problem. Perhaps Trump will single-handedly create a market for used Teslas among his cult. That would be great, since only a few years ago they were crazy angry about libtards driving electric vehicles.

If you want to sell your Tesla stock, that’s easy. There’s a robust market in the stock. Over 110 million shares traded on March 17. But there is the problem of figuring out how much $TSLA you own, According to the 2024 Tesla Proxy Statement, after Musk, the two largest holders are Vanguard and Black Rock, both huge in investment funds and pension management. If you have a 401k, an IRA, or a pension plan, you most likely own at least a little of the stock of Tesla. It has the 9th highest market capitalization of US stocks,

This site says there are 517 ETFs that hold stock in Tesla.  You probably wouldn’t expect Vanguard Consumer Discretionary ETF to hold Tesla stock. Its largest holding is Amazon at 23%, and it includes MacDonalds, Chipotle, Loews, Booking.com, and similar stocks. The second largest holding is Tesla, at 17%. I do not think of electric vehicles as a consumer discretionary expenditure.

I searched for ETFs with low Tesla holdings for the past year, and almost all of the results were funds with lots of Tesla. There are, of course, investment vehicles that don’t hold Tesla. You could look at industry specific funds like ETFs investing in Pharma or Health Care. But you’d be wise to check the actual holdings. I found some on this site where you can search for several sectors.

If you search for Tesla stock you’ll find plenty of people saying it’s fairly valued, or even undervalued. The Yahoo Finance site says the one year target price is $343. Here’s one that’s not so rosy. if you want to see for yourself, here’s a link to the 2024 10-K. .

Note that the people talking about dumping their Tesla cars don’t take about the car itself, in fact most of them like their Teslas. They’re selling, even at a loss, for other reasons. In the same way, the decision to sell Tesla stock doesn’t necessarily mean there aren’t good reasons to hold it. That decision may nave nothing to do with the fundamentals of Tesla, or its businesses.

The Proxy Statement says that Elon Musk has pledged about 1/3 of his holdings as collateral for loans, probably including loans for the purchase of Twitter.  It seems plausible that the lenders will demand additional collateral or even call the loans if the price sinks dramatically. For example, the current PE Ratio is about 116 at market close March 17. If it were selling at the same PE ratio as the information technology sector, approximately 35 at market close March 17, the price would drop from the current $240 to about $75.

Search for the term Tesla meme stock. It’s possible the chanters have a point.

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  3. xyxyxyxy says:

    (Bloomberg) 12:32 PM — Elon Musk’s social network X has raised close to $1 billion in new equity from investors in a deal that values the company at roughly $32 billion, according to people with knowledge of the matter — a valuation in line with when Musk took it private in 2022.
    Musk himself participated in the equity raise,…
    Musk regularly turns to the private markets for backing for several of his companies, including SpaceX, which completed a tender offer valuing the startup at about $350 billion, and xAI, which is said to have canvassed investors about raising fresh funding at a valuation of $75 billion.

    • john paul jones says:

      Good engineering reasons to suppose Space X’s large booster (the one that just failed two tests in a row, explosively) will never work, so that may ultimately impact their viability as a company.

      • JoeV_27JUL2018_1551h says:

        I’m battling cognitive dissonance due to being fond of SpaceX and hating Musk, but your claim is just wrong. The large booster (first stage of the launch vehicle) did not fail two tests in a row – in both of the prior 2 launches, the booster successfully returned to the launch tower. Its Starship itself (the second stage) that failed after successful separation from the booster in both of the prior launches. SpaceX is well on its way to proving it will work, be re-usable, and at a fraction of the cost of the NASA/Boeing Senate Launch System boondoggle.

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        • xyxyxyxy says:

          Isn’t there a problem though, when debris falls to earth and lands on communities where people live?

        • DevG_20MAR2025_1441h says:

          Well it’s coming at the cost of a lot of Taxpayer dollar. The return on investment for such projects for a citizen is basically 0, even if it succeeds.

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  4. biff murphy says:

    Something stinky in Denmark!
    Tesla is not selling cars, so tell me how this stock can be up almost $10 since yesterday when NO one is buying Tesla’s?
    Tesla
    $235.17
    FINY
    +9.86(+4.38%)
    As of Mar-19-20252:33:07 PM ET“Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard upgraded Tesla from Neutral to Overweight and maintained a price target of $425 on Wednesday, a day after visiting Tesla’s Austin Gigafactory and the company’s AI data centers”

    And again…

  5. xyxyxyxy says:

    OT, I think:

    New Utah law allows state vendors to be paid in gold and silver
    On Tuesday, the state legislature passed a bill allowing government vendors to choose to be paid in gold and silver for the first time in America….The state politicians noted that the legislation is the latest evolution in Utah’s stance in favor of SOUND MONEY….
    “IN UNCERTAIN ECONOMIC TIMES, Utah is providing vendors and service providers with the option to receive payment in gold and silver,” Rep. Ivory said. “This law gives Utahns an alternative to choose how they preserve the purchasing power of their earnings and savings.”

    [my capitalizations]
    https://www.kitco.com/news/article/2025-03-19/new-utah-law-allows-state-vendors-be-paid-gold-and-silver

  6. gruntfuttock says:

    ‘Perhaps Trump will single-handedly create a market for used Teslas among his cult.’

    It’s the most perfect irony.

    But maybe they’re just going to use their Teslas for target practice with their military-grade machine guns while huffing fossil fuel fumes. If they were actually going to use them for driving and living that would require – dah, dah, dah – INFRASTRUCTURE. Which needs gubmint to do some shit.

      • gruntfuttock says:

        Yes, but it’s already there. Has been for decades.

        My point was really that Trump will say anything and do anything in the moment if it suits him. If he thinks he can get rich off electric cars, he’ll love electric cars, more than anybody ever loved them before. Like turning the White House into a used car lot.

    • xyxyxyxy says:

      Since you bring up the military, how come nobody repeats over and over again when they discuss the military, or question his defense chief, WH or military spokespersons, that the Commander-in-Chief has called those that have served (tried to remove some of them from history, including Jackie Robinson), whose lives are in his hands, that is, serving and about to serve “Losers and Suckers”?
      Of course that “may” harm the people of the planet during the time he is in that position.

      • RetiredSysEngineer says:

        I was at the Vet Rally on the Natl Mall on March 14th. Lots of the Vets there had that quote on their signs, and many of the speakers also repeated it. Again not much coverage in the Natl Media, but these folks had not forgotten those words.

    • PeteT0323 says:

      I went to Polestar’s site and per usual there got a little confused.

      Not that the deal isn’t good, but it’s for a base single motor Polestar 3 on a lease with a cap cost reduction of $15,000 from Polestar plus an additional $5,000 cap cost reduction to trade in you Tesla which you might be underwater on.

      I didn’t bother with the lease details – those things are often hard to dig out – on purpose.

      I like the Polestar 3 (and 4) but they are pricey and not a particularly utilitarian EV at a more reasonable price.

      I’d like to see Hyundai, KIA, or Chevy do something similar.

  8. Matt Foley says:

    I hadn’t thought about this until now. I checked; Tesla is 1.62% of my retirement portfolio (S&P 500 fund). I’ll have to think about whether it’s worth the time and effort of changing investments.

  9. Matt Foley says:

    Dr. appt. today. Waiting room TV had Fox News on. Kayleigh MAGAny was crying about some bullshit as usual. No way I was going to put up with that. I asked the receptionist to change the channel. Problem solved.

    Have to enjoy the small victories.

  10. xyxyxyxy says:

    Alternative to TSLA and other forms of transportation:

    WASHINGTON (Reuters) – Amtrak CEO Stephen Gardner said Wednesday he will step down immediately after more than four years as head of the U.S. passenger railroad, citing concerns about maintaining the carrier’s support from President Donald Trump’s administration.
    “I am stepping down as CEO to ensure that Amtrak continues to enjoy the full faith and confidence of this administration,” Gardner said in a statement.

  11. Thomas Paine says:

    TSLA has been massively overvalued for years. GM, Ford and others in the car business trade at a P/E of ~15-18. As noted other tech stocks trade at a P/E of 35. By these measures TSLA is WAY over its real value. It should be worth more like $50-$75 per share – and that is BEFORE the tremendous loss in “good will” Musk has squandered by his illegal and immoral DOGE shit activities.

    I have told my friends to buy put options on TSLA. They have all made real $$$.

    TSLA is valued as a “meme stock” like GameStop, but the Wall Street pros are pushing this one, not the amateurs. Makes you wonder who are the bigger fools.

    • P J Evans says:

      I think a lot of tech stocks (of all kinds) are overvalued. I’ve seen way too many stories about companies once valued at $N billion going broke.

  13. bgThenNow says:

    I saw someone on line posting a note saying “We buy junk cars” and putting it on a swasticar. I accidentally parked next to one today. I got a scrap of paper out and wrote a note, put it under their wiper blade. “We buy junk cars. 1-800-382-5358.” I’m going to print little flyers and keep them at the ready for any future opportunity.

    One of my friends who bought a Tesla when it seemed like a good idea wants to get rid of it now. Embarrassed to drive it.

    • drhester says:

      Two weeks ago I was at a wedding venue in NYC. I ordered an Uber and got a notice that the driver was driving a Tesla. I texted back, “no Tesla”… found another ride.

    • earlofhuntingdon says:

      Missing $1.4 billion in assets normally causes a CFO heartburn, and quite a few other people.

      Borrowing $6 billion when you have cash-on-hand of $36 billion seems odd. But Musk was trying hard to get Tesla to pay him about $58 billion in “compensation.” Lots of questions there.

  16. johno808 says:

    Tesla’s PE is propped up by the expectation of autonomous driving and robo cabs. But Elon insists on camera-only sensors which many experts say will never work (you need Lidar). Given Tesla’s huge sales downturn, he’s probably cash flow negative, and it will be difficult to fund new tech. Worse, China’s BYD is beating him in sales and tech. He’s got problems.

  17. Mike from Delaware says:

    Meanwhile in lil ol Delaware, musk is trying to change Delaware corporate law to limit CEO and corporate insiders’ accountability and eliminate investor protections (Delaware SB21). This follows Delaware Court of Chancery rejecting musk’s $55.8 billion compensation package. The court found that Tesla’s directors breached their fiduciary duties by awarding the compensation plan.

    There never will be enough money to satisfy the likes of musk.

    • xyxyxyxy says:

      There should be no billionaires.
      What more do you need whether you have one billion or 300 billion?

  18. Critter7 says:

    Tesla is recalling all cybertrucks because certain of the stainless steel exterior panels that were glued on – glued, not fixed securely with metal fasteners – have been coming off because the glue deteriorates.

    For more info, search on “tesla truck glue delamination”.

    • P J Evans says:

      I wonder how the plastic clips that they used are going to age. (This is a problem with all plastics. Even the HDPE used for gas pipe can age poorly – they had to replace all of one brand, back in the 90s, because of problems.)

      • johno808 says:

        Had a Sch 40 PVC 90 deg fitting right out of our water meter fail. Didn’t know until we got a $3600 water bill. Oceanfront property. I wanted to tell NOAA I know why sea levels are rising.

      • BRUCE F COLE says:

        Are you thinking about Vanguard? That wasn’t HDPE, it was PB. HDPE is very durable (depending on the wall thickness), but what’s that got to do with Schedule 40 pvc? Schedule 80, normally used for street-pressure domestic water piping, would have worked just fine — unless it was a female thread-adapter fitting, which I never use in plastic when mating up with a copper or brass male adapter; they run the risk of splitting eventually, even Schedule 80.

        And none of that has to do with the glue that Tesla uses for their chassis-to-frame attachments. That is a solvent based product, no doubt. Saw a video from MT about it saying possibly cold temps can induce failure. This is just about the trucks afaik.

  19. Super Dave says:

    I’ve been a “car guy” for most of my almost 80 years. I’ve had many cars, mostly utilitarian, but also a few more exotic cars in the past decade. Last year I decided it was time to explore EVs since the range and travel charging issues have finally reached reasonable levels. I drove Hyundai’s Ioniq 5 and Kia’s EV6, both very nice cars. I also drove Chevy’s Blazer EV, which turned out to be an EV for people who don’t really want an EV.

    One of my sons bought a Tesla Model Y and liked it, so I started looking at Teslas. Turns out the Tesla “system” which includes the car’s software and charging network is pretty advanced compared to all the other current competitors here in the US. I ended up buying a very lightly used Tesla Model 3 Long Range (AWD) from a private party in nearby California last June, before realizing what total a**hole Musk is.

    We installed a Level 2 charger in our garage. After adding around 6,000 miles since then, at a “fuel” cost of less than $.04/mile (our electric rate is $0.14/kWh), I can honestly say we love the car. It is very easy to drive, very quick (0-60 in 4 seconds, just slightly slower than my C8 Corvette (2.9), and handles like a dream. It’s also FUN to drive and as convenient as a modern appliance.

    After Musk has shown himself to be who he is, I decided it was worth a shot at trying to get rid of it. I tried to trade it in on a Kia EV6 recently and discovered it would result in a loss of over $11,000, almost 1/3 of what I paid for it. If the car was a total bust, and I hated it or at least didn’t like it so much it would be an easy decision. The sad truth is my wife and I both LOVE the damned car and are leaning toward keeping it. So much for my principles.

    • Rayne says:

      What you are describing is privilege. You have the luxury of making a choice to exercise your principles or not.

      Many have not and will not have that privilege. They will be forced to pay prices you will never be assessed. You can ignore the racism and misogyny that went into developing and manufacturing Tesla vehicles at the expense of the workers who may have no choice in their job market.

      Now you also know the appeal of the 1930s-40s fascists who claimed they could make the trains run on time. How nice for those who could freely travel by their choice.

      • Super Dave says:

        I agree that I am in a privileged position with respect to my choice. However, I do not agree with your assertion that the vehicles were developed and manufactured by racists and misogynists (agree that Musk is both). I’m pretty sure that the engineers and workers for Tesla are not all mini-Musks. I admit I don’t have direct evidence of my assertion, my 40+ years working as a professional engineer lends some faith to my belief. While my choice may not please you (it doesn’t entirely please me either), I will continue to do other things to resist the fascism currently overtaking the country. Meanwhile I will continue to enjoy my privilege of driving a car that does please me while benefiting the environment, in spite of its shortcomings in the political arena.

        • brucefan says:

          I don’t know Super Dave’s precise circumstances, but he may have mobility/transportation concerns similar to my spouse and me. We are sadly aware that sub-optimal choices now can cause us real hardship down the line. We have earned the capability to have some discretion about choices we make. Taking care of our needs is not a privilege, it’s a necessity.

          I respect this site’s need to be focussed on the most important issues, but I can’t let this point go unanswered. “Privilege” is a loaded term. We can only succeed with a broad coalition of diverse people, and must be careful about (perhaps unintentionally) disrespecting our teammates.

        • Rayne says:

          The guy who signs the SEC filings is a racist and misogynist, and the board of directors who fail to rein him in and insist on employment practices in compliance with federal law regarding employees’ civil rights are racists and misogynists…how far down do I need to go before I get to the workers who’ve filed complaints about their employers’ civil rights violations?

          But hey, your EV is cheap. Good for you.

      • P J Evans says:

        brucefan says:
        March 20, 2025 at 3:17 pm

        There are better options if you’re having mobility problems. Much less expensive ones, and far easier to maintain, too. (EVs are not a viable option for many people. Not just money reasons.)

      • Super Dave says:

        Rayne, I read EW, you, and others daily because I almost always learn things I don’t know. I am not as educated or astute as you or any of the front pagers and most of the commenters. I offered my original comment on this subject merely as additional information that I mistakenly thought might be of interest. I am now keenly aware that in the future I need to keep my comments to myself and will endeavor to do so. I am sorry I offended you.

        • xyxyxyxy says:

          In my opinion, no need to keep comments to yourself.
          Live and learn. Things engineers design fail at times, the failures are investigated, in some cases there are reprimands and/or penalties, changes and improvements are made, etc.

        • Rayne says:

          You came here expecting a pat on the back after publishing an economic apologia for a “swasticar,” and now you’re going to whine because you didn’t get your ego stroked?

          *smh*

        • Ciel babe says:

          Agree with Rayne. You could keep learning, in this case considering why you got reactions you find unexpected or off base in your opinion – or just not 100% positive, in your experience of them. Check out the continued back and forth around your comment and others. It’s a private blog, not a comment affirmation service.
          Or you can decide not to comment. Up to you. (but really? It’s not like you’ve been cactus’ed – which is also completely OK here on this private blog)

    • johno808 says:

      I’ve owned two Tesla’s, got rid of both soon after the Twitter purchase. Partly because of principal, but also expecting the resale value to deteriorate. In 2017 I put up the $50k deposit (refundable) for the Roadster the night it was introduced. Got an email acknowledgement, and not one communication after that. After a couple years I wanted my money back. It took FOUR years. Get this – before Twitter, when I was tired of hassling them about the refund, I went to a Tesla dealer and said I wanted to buy a Model X and use my Roadster deposit. They said they couldn’t do that! I’m like wtf – you know I can hear you? They actually would not do it. I walked out.

      • P J Evans says:

        I heard that people who needed repairs to their Teslas weren’t getting them, because all the parts were going to build new ones, and none to fix cars in repair shops, sometimes from shortly after purchase.
        I hope that’s improved, but as I can’t afford one and have no convenient place to charge the thing…

  20. Matt Foley says:

    Tesla is getting BudLighted.

    He has the stones to go on Fox and cry that HE’S the victim. Let those MAGA tears fall like rain, Swasticar Boy!

    re Cybertruck
    “How can we take the Volkswagen Thing and make it even uglier?”

    • Rayne says:

      The fundamental weakness of Western civilization is empathy. The empathy exploit. They’re exploiting a bug in Western civilization, which is the empathy response. So, I think, you know, empathy is good, but you need to think it through and not just be programmed like a robot.

      source: Joe Rogan experience #2281
      https://www.yahoo.com/news/fact-check-musk-said-fundamental-130000768.html

      Musk has zero empathy for anyone but himself — he’s a psychopath and narcissist.

        • Rayne says:

          Amazing how we’re supposed to have empathy for a guy who doesn’t believe we should have any at the individual level; unsurprising his morals are certainly questionable when it comes to his habit of procreating without responsibility and accountability, let alone what he’s done to our society with his Muskrat-ian chainsaw.

      • Ciel babe says:

        Thanks for this. I feel like I’ve been railing against the empathy exploit for years without that pithy label – will help me spot and articulate this trap going forward.
        Ayn Rand was a crazy person, whom no one over 14 should take seriously (arguably not even that), but sometimes I can spot an empathy exploit by realizing that it’s time to Atlas shrug it off.

      • Matt Foley says:

        Some cars are appealing or cute because they’re boxy or ugly. I love my Honda Element, for example. The Cybertruck looks like a pile of scrap metal somebody left by the curb.

        • P J Evans says:

          It makes the Pontiac Aztek look good.
          Heck, my father rebuilt one of his, and his design was dune-buggy cute. (Also the panels were firmly attached and it had an actual frame.)

        • Knox Bronson says:

          The CyberTruck degrades the visual environment around it at about a 100′ radius. Everything is diminished in its presence, mostly because it’s so ugly and out of scale one can hardly look at anything else. The CyberTruck is the only thing Elmo has actually ever designed.

        • xyxyxyxy says:

          re-Knox Bronson March 21, 2025 at 2:22 am
          HE DID NOT DESIGN IT!
          by bloopie2 March 20, 2025 4:32 pm below:

          Another possible origin for the Cybertruck, per a Slate story of a few days ago: “Elon Musk Wanted the Cybertruck to Look Like “the Future.” But It Reminds Us of One Particular Past. The story of the Casspir, which patrolled townships in South Africa when the Tesla CEO was a boy.” The photo in the story does look close.
          Apparently it was used in South Africa against … well, you know. Musk is from there. Is the timing right?

  21. bloopie2 says:

    Another possible origin for the Cybertruck, per a Slate story of a few days ago: “Elon Musk Wanted the Cybertruck to Look Like “the Future.” But It Reminds Us of One Particular Past. The story of the Casspir, which patrolled townships in South Africa when the Tesla CEO was a boy.” The photo in the story does look close.

    Apparently it was used in South Africa against … well, you know. Musk is from there. Is the timing right?

    Slate notes “the idea that a Cybertruck could become an artillery vehicle is not just hypothetical. Unsanctioned by Tesla, various users, ranging from a YouTuber to Chechen forces fighting for Russia in Ukraine, have modified a Cybertruck by mounting machine guns to its bed, turning it into a lightly armored weaponized machine. Government forces, such as the police in Southern California and Dubai, are using the Cybertruck as part of their fleets—although in those cases its usage is symbolic and not for patrol duties.

    I can see our no-empathy guy building out a fleet of these to rein in his undesirables: poor people, disabled, retirees, all others who take and don’t give, and folks who are just plain ‘different’.

    • P J Evans says:

      President Musk has been trying to sell his vehicles to cops, but most departments are saying they’re not suitable for normal police use.
      The various recalls and news stories about them failing in ways that most vehicles *don’t* doesn’t help at all.

      • earlofhuntingdon says:

        Local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies across the country buy, use and maintain hundreds of thousands of vehicles. They know which ones work well, under the peculiar stresses of their work, and how much they cost to maintain. Apart from the expense, high maintenance needs keep a vehicle off the road, which means a police force needs to buy more of them. They’re not buying Tesla vehicles for a reason.

        • xyxyxyxy says:

          Wouldn’t an EV require less maintenance as it doesn’t require oil changes or other maintenance that an oil and gas running vehicle does?
          Trains that run on electricity can run forever as long as the body is kept intact.
          CN Railway passenger locomotives built in the 19 teens ran into the 1990s, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hUzn_2BZFTs

        • Shadowalker says:

          There are other problems other than oil changes. The big one besides replacing the electric motors after a time (same is done for locomotives), is the batteries which being lithium ion based pose an increased risk of fire and or explosion after so many charge cycles above the 4.5v threshold (oxygen component loses electrons and oxidizes causing extreme heat) Tesla claims to have fixed the problem but I have my doubts. I did see an article recently where they were able to introduce Nickel which not only reduced the fire hazard, but increased the range above 750 miles on one charge.

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