While investors seemingly found nothing concerning in Tesla Motors’ (NASDAQ: TSLA) substantial revenue and earnings miss revealed in the latest quarterly report, short sellers appear to have quickly anticipated a major correction.
TSLA stock short volume ratio rocketed from 44.94 during the session that preceded the earnings to 59.01 in the session that came after – January 30, 2025 – per the data Finbold retrieved from Fintel.
The Thursday figure simultaneously constitutes the highest the short volume ratio has been in the last two weeks, with the second-highest number – 52.64 – recorded as far back as January 16.
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Why Tesla stock shorts skyrocketed on Thursday
The spike in the short volume ratio can be attributed to Tesla’s latest quarterly report. Specifically, Elon Musk’s electric vehicle (EV) giant underperformed in terms of revenue, recording $25.71 billion instead of the expected $27.26 billion – approximately $1.5 billion less.
The situation was similar, albeit less drastic, regarding earnings per share (EPS), which came in at $0.73 and not, as was forecasted, $0.76.
A surprise, however, came from Tesla’s Bitcoin (BTC), which generated a $600 million profit jump after new accounting standards were implemented for cryptocurrencies.
Elsewhere, the wider tone of the report does not appear to have been surprising.
On the one hand, the EV maker revealed its first year-over-year (YoY) deliveries drop earlier in January, while Gordon Johnson – arguably the biggest TSLA stock bear on Wall Street – predicted a weak quarter between the number of vehicles shipped and lowered prices emerging from lower demand during the ‘EV winter.’
TSLA shares rally despite revenue miss
Despite the filing, Tesla shares themselves experienced hardly any headwinds and managed a 2.87% rise on January 30 to its latest closing price of $400.28. The extended session leading into the final day of the month has also been mildly positive and featured a 0.030% climb.
Still, the upcoming direction for TSLA stock remains somewhat unclear. It would not have been the first time Tesla shares rallied on a miss due to the results being less bad than expected.
Simultaneously, it is plausible that the rally emerged from the upward momentum after the Monday, January 27 drop triggered by the novel Chinese DeepSeek artificial intelligence (AI) model – a drop whose effects remain evident as Tesla stock is 3.41% in the red in the 5-day chart.
Featured image via Shutterstock
