Harding and Company – TSLA – Another Major Tesla Backer Looking to Extend Their Position

MANHATTAN, N.Y. - Oct. 29, 2018 - PRLog -- "If he needs more capital we would be willing to back him," partner Nick Thomas told the newspaper. He called Musk an entrepreneur who had "vision and ambition, who's working towards a social good."

Baillie Gifford holds roughly 13.1 million shares of Tesla, worth about $4.4 billion at the opening bell today. It's the company's third-largest investor.

The latest comments come days after Tesla reported a surprise quarterly profit, its third in its history as a public company.

Shares jumped 10 percent immediately following the earnings report late Wednesday, and will open today at $334.85. That's nearly 30 percent higher than where the company was trading just 10 days ago.

Baillie Gifford has been critical of Musk in the past, with one of the firm's partners telling The Wall Street Journal in June that "organization and execution is where he doesn't seem as good as other great leaders."

Earlier this month, Baillie Gifford purchased an 11.4 percent stake in Chinese Tesla competitor Nio, worth about $568 million today.

In other news, Musk on Friday said the ill-fated tweet in August that cost $40 million in fines and temporarily forced him to give up his role as chairman was "worth it." He later said he was "signing off Twitter for a few days."

Oracle Corp. co-founder Larry Ellison defended Musk in a meeting with analysts at the Oracle OpenWorld conference on Thursday, saying his second-largest personal investment is in Tesla.

"I loved all the articles about how Elon doesn't know what he is doing, the pictures of him smoking dope, you know, and The Wall Street Journal writing all these articles [saying] he is going to have to go out for money," Ellison said, according to CNBC. "Why should I believe you as opposed to my friend Elon while I am out here watching this rocket land, which I think is really cool, and you are there in front of your Apple Mac typing up an article saying Elon is an idiot?"

Harding and Company are keeping their STRONG BUY rating on Tesla as we believe the company still offers the best entry point into the EV market along with several other opportunities yet to be deployed.

To find out how you can get involved in opportunities in the markets, contact an advisor today at info@handcadvisors.com or visit www.handcadvisors.com to see how you can benefit from an independent advisory service that is 100% committed to your financial security, strategy and wealth management.