Tesla CEO Elon Musk has tried to correct the record after an analyst report surfaced on Thursday saying his Model 3 is in trouble.
In a tweet late on Thursday, Musk called an analyst report that said Model 3 cancellations are double today where they were last year at the same time and higher than orders “bs.” Musk added that last week, Tesla had 5,000 Model 3 “new net orders.” Net orders refers to total orders, less cancellations.
Musk’s comment came after Needham & Co. analyst Rajvindra Gill told investors that refunds for the Model 3 “are outpacing deposits as cancellations accelerate.” Gill, who downgraded Tesla’s stock to a sell, said the Model 3’s refund rate is more than 24% of all orders.
Soon after a Fortune story was published on the note, a Tesla spokesman contradicted Gill’s claims. In a statement to Fortune, the spokesperson said that cancellations are not, in fact, outpacing orders. The spokesperson added that there were 420,000 net Tesla Model 3 reservations at the end of the second quarter.
Dunno where this bs is coming from. Who knows about the future, but last week we had over 2000 S/X and 5000 Model 3 *new* net orders.
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 20, 2018
Still, the damage had been done. Tesla’s shares plummeted in early trading following the analyst’s report and only started to regain their standing after the company provided its context. Interestingly, Musk’s own figures haven’t done much to change shareholder minds: in early trading on Friday, Tesla’s shares were down nearly 1%.
