Tesla (TSLA) stock fell by over 2% on Thursday after receiving a double downgrade from Baird and CFRA — but few investors are losing optimism.
The company’s shares have been on a rip-roaring rally since last year. On Thursday, Tesla closed lower at $479.80 — but that’s a far cry from a low under $179 it hit last May.
Barbara Corcoran, Founder of The Corcoran Group and Shark on ABC’s “Shark Tank” told Yahoo Finance’s YFi PM that as an investor of Tesla, she’s all about the company.
“Don't say anything wrong to me about that company,” Corcoran stated. “All you have to do is get a Tesla or borrow one and drive around and you are sold. These guys are just hedging their bets. They don't want to be wrong in their predictions, so they're taking it down a little.
Despite short-sellers swarming the stock, and Tesla critics blasting CEO Elon Musk’s management style, Corcoran declared “It's all nonsense — That guy is a winner.”
Lately, Tesla has been hitting new milestones, with shares up over 90% in the past three months alone.
On Tuesday, the electric car company delivered its first China-made Model 3 sedans from its Shanghai Gigafactory to customers, with Musk announcing that a similar program for the company’s Model Y SUV will happen in China as well.
But despite the company’s recent spike upward, Corcoran recognized that the path hasn’t always been easy for Tesla.
“You have to go back in time and realize that from the beginning, that's been a bumpy road all along the way, with setbacks and bumps and right-hand turns and quick left-hand turns, Corcoran stated.
“That's been the nature of the company. And so I think if you could just look at it long-term and realize that their product in the end drives the company,” she said. “The product itself is so phenomenally much better than everything.”
Tesla also touched another new high this week, giving it a market capitalization greater than General Motors (GM) and Ford (F), combined. It’s part of what Corcoran called the electric car maker’s ability to outpace “the old guy” competition.
“You always need a guy that's a wild man like [Musk] is to create something new. And by the time the big guys wake up to it, they can never catch up. I'm totally confident in it. I would upgrade their stock.”
Musk is “rough, but let me tell you, any great leader is rough,” Corcoran continued. “Any great leader has a strong opinion and isn't so smooth on the edges and drives it home. But that's what you want when you want to reinvent a category, and that's what he's done. You have to hand it to the guy.”
Chelsea Lombardo is a production assistant for Yahoo Finance. You can find more of her work here.
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