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Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn exercised options and bought 13,500 shares, which is a strong signal. He now owns more than 204,000 shares of the company, valued at more than $25 million, at Friday's closing price.

In 2022, Tesla faced a lot of headwinds, which has shaken the confidence of some investors in the company, despite the fact that the manufacturer is more successful and stronger than ever. This led to a decrease in its share price, which became significantly noticeable after Q3 2022 and intensified in the last weeks of December. The bears continued to inflate the negative news around the company, instilling fear and uncertainty even among those who have supported Tesla over the years. As a result, the share price dropped to $123.18 a share on the last trading day of the year, registering a 65% drop in value in 2022.

While frightened investors continued to sell their Tesla shares at low prices, the more experienced and those who were able to filter the flow of FUD (fear, uncertainty and doubt) bought them at uniquely discounted prices. For example, ARK Invest has loaded about 600,000 Tesla shares into its portfolio since October. In addition, many retail investors continued to buy thousands of shares because they were confident that, despite temporary difficulties, the company's long-term success remains clear.

In addition, according to a recent Form 4 filing with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), Tesla Chief Financial Officer Zachary Kirkhorn exercised options expiring October 16, 2028, to purchase 13,500 shares of TSLA at a price of $18.44 per share. This is a strong signal, as the company's CFO understands the company's financial situation like no one else. Following the latest purchase, Kirkhorn now owns a total of 204,313.5 shares of Tesla, worth more than $25 million, at Friday's closing price.

While the macroeconomic environment will likely have an impact on Tesla in 2023, the manufacturer is in a very strong position to weather this storm better than other companies. Tesla has four operating factories around the world for the production of vehicles and will announce the location of at least one more soon. Also, the first deliveries of the long-awaited Cybertruck are expected in 2023. In addition, it seems that a new platform for the next Tesla models will be introduced soon, which will bring cheaper options. The development of Full Self-Driving (FSD) is progressing well, and the ever-expanding fleet of FSD Beta testers will accelerate data collection and training of the neural network to achieve Level 5 autonomy. Furthermore, the growth in the production of its own 4680 batteries is gaining momentum, and the expansion of the energy business has reached a new level with the launch of the Megafactory in Lathrop, California, at full capacity.

© 2022, Eva Fox | Tesmanian. All rights reserved.

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This article is for informational purposes only. You should not construe any such information or other material as an investment, financial, or other advice. Nothing contained in this article constitutes a solicitation, recommendation, endorsement, or offer by Eva Fox, Tesmanian, or any third party service provider to buy or sell any securities or other financial instruments in this or in any other jurisdiction in which such solicitation or offer would be unlawful under the securities laws of such jurisdiction.

Eva Fox holds zero shares of Tesla, Inc., and currently (at the time of this article's publishing) holds zero options or securities in Tesla Inc. and/or its affiliates.