ETFs Holding Tesla Stock Decline as Carmaker’s CFO Departs

ETFs with big Tesla Inc. investments dropped after the world’s most valuable automaker said its chief financial officer departed, sending its share price lower. 

The Meet Kevin Pricing Power ETF (PP), the ETF with the biggest portion of its holdings invested in Tesla—excluding so-called single-stock funds—fell 1.5% in midafternoon trading.  

The fund, which launched in late November by popular YouTube host Kevin Paffrath, has 22% of its assets, or $9.64 million, in Tesla stock, according to etf.com’s stock finder tool. 

Single-stock ETFs that bet on Tesla gaining declined today. They include the Direxion Daily TSLA Bull 1.5X Shares (TSLL), which lost 4.4% today and the GraniteShares 1.25x Long TSLA Daily ETF (TSL), which declined 4.3%. 

Tesla is among the most widely held stocks by U.S. exchange-traded funds, included in 331 funds. Its stock fell after the company said in a filing that CFO and “Master of Coin” Zachary Kirkhorn had stepped down after four years in the role, a period in which the company had seen “tremendous growth and expansion.” He’s succeeded by Chief Accounting Officer Vaibhav Taneja. No reason was given for the departure. 

Tesla has more than doubled this year.  

Tesla Stock’s Biggest Holder Is SPY

Tesla has around 219.1 million shares in the U.S. ETF market, with the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (SPY) as the largest holder, with approximately 30.4 million shares. SPY rose today. On average, U.S. ETFs allocate 3.17% of Tesla to their portfolios. 

The best-performing ETF in the past 12 months with Tesla as a holding is the Direxion Daily NYSE FANG+ Bull 2X Shares (FNGG), with a return of 40.8%. 

ETFs that bet on the decline of Tesla stock jumped. The AXS TSLA Bear Daily ETF (TSLQ) and the Direxion Daily TSLA Bear 1X Shares (TSLS) both gained 2.7%.  

Contact Ron Day at [email protected] or follow him on Twitter at @RonDayETF