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Tesla Becomes Most Profitable U.S. Short Bet as Bears Gain $2.75 Billion

A customer plugs in a Tesla Inc. electric vehicle at the Tesla Supercharger station in Kettleman City, California.

A customer plugs in a Tesla Inc. electric vehicle at the Tesla Supercharger station in Kettleman City, California.

Photographer: Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg
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Tesla Inc. short-sellers have taken a decisive lead in the perennial tug-of-war between bulls and bears on Wall Street.

As the electric-car maker’s shares plunged 30% this year, the stock has become the most profitable short bet in the U.S., according to Aug. 9 data from S3 Partners. Bears have seen a whopping $2.75 billion of mark-to-market gains in 2019, according to the firm’s head of research Ihor Dusaniwsky.