Tech Selloff: Hedge Funds are Dumping These 5 Stocks in 2022

4. Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA)

Number of Hedge Fund Holders: 80

Decline in Hedge Fund Holders: 11

Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) deals in the production of electric vehicles. The market is reacting negatively to a spate of bad news coming from the company, such as slowing production and sales in China owing to Covid lockdowns, and distraction from founder Elon Musk’s proposed $44 billion bid to acquire Twitter. Investors feel Musk may sell shares of Tesla to finance his bid for Twitter, and subsequently the shares of the EV-maker have dropped 24.83% in the last one month, and 45.09% in the year to date as of May 25.

Daiwa analyst Jairam Nathan on May 24 slashed the firm’s price target on Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) to $800 from $1,150 and reiterated an ‘Outperform’ rating on the company shares.

At the close of Q1, a total of 80 hedge funds from the database of Insider Monkey reported bullish bets on Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) shares, showing a negative trend from the preceding quarter where 91 hedge funds held positions in the company.

Baron Funds, an investment firm, shared its views on Tesla, Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) in its Q1 2022 investor letter. The fund said:

“During the first quarter, we bought back shares in Tesla, Inc., which designs, manufactures, and sells electric vehicles, solar products, energy storage solutions, and batteries. We believe that despite the run in the stock over the last few years, Tesla presents a favorable risk/reward profile and remains a Big Idea with only about 1% market share of the automotive market. Since we bought the stock during the first quarter, shares increased 27.1%, despite a complex supply-chain environment, on continued revenue growth and record profitability. Robust demand and operational optimization allow the company to offset inflationary pressures while vertical integration provides flexibility around supply bottlenecks. Moreover, we expect new localized manufacturing capacity to drive additional efficiencies while software initiatives, including the autonomous driving program, are accelerating, offering valuable optionality to the stock.”