Tesla Motors Inc (TSLA): This 400% Gainer Should Keep Crushing the Shorts

There’s nothing more satisfying than being right, and if you’ve been a bull on electric carmaker Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) the way I’ve been, you are likely basking in the afterglow of your own prescience.

On Wednesday, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) reported a second-quarter net loss of $30.5 million, or $0.26 a share. That figure was a huge improvement from the loss of $105.6 million, or $1 a share in the same quarter a year ago. Revenue also surged, coming in at $405.1 million from $26.7 million a year ago.

The real news, however, was the company’s proclamation that if you exclude costs associated with stock compensation and early repayment of a government loan, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) actually made a profit of $0.20 a share. That figure trounced consensus forecasts for a Q2 loss of $0.17 a share.

The company’s calculation doesn’t comply with generally accepted accounting principles, or GAAP, but the fact that Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) can be considered in the black when excluding items is something that came as a big surprise to Wall Street.

I find it interesting that many analysts called Tesla’s earnings a “surprise.” Not that a very big beat like this isn’t a surprise; it is. But surprising Wall Street, as well as all of the skeptics, has been the raison d’etre for Tesla and its brilliant founder and CEO Elon Musk. The technology entrepreneur who created PayPal has expertly steered Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) to near icon status in just the decade since its founding.

The chart below shows the stock’s phenomenal 400%-plus surge in the past 12 months.

As a TSLA bull, another thing I find particularly satisfying is that the stock continues to defy the short sellers. In fact, Thursday’s big jump in TSLA shares has a lot to do with short sellers scrambling to cover positions that keep getting crushed. These shorts are hoping for a Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) mishap that will take the shares down, but so far they’ve been dead wrong.

As Musk himself said almost a year ago during an interview with Liz Claman of Fox Business News, “I think it’s very unwise to be shorting Tesla. I think there’s a tsunami of hurt coming for those holding a short position, and it’s going to be very unpleasant. I advise people to exit while there is time.”

The lesson here for the short sellers, skeptics and naysayers: Stop betting against Elon Musk and Tesla.