Stupid question - why do a capital raise now, when SP is so low. Secondly, why not just buy on the open market, which is lower than the offer??
I don't care about dilution, if this stock goes where I expect, won't make any difference...
A larger cash buffer is a good idea, even if they don't end up needing it. It will help to protect against unexpected issues or a recession, quiet down the TSLAQ fanatics (at least a little you can hope) and also provide more confidence to customers that Tesla is financially stable. The final issue price will be decided by the market.
Note, we now have hindsight bias, but it is not possible to know for certain whether raising capital at $350 etc last year was the right or wrong decision. For example if there was a 5% chance last year of ever needing to raise more cash and now there is a 40% chance. Last year raising this cash may have cost say 2% dilution and now the same amount of cash is 3% dilution. The risk of diluting shares unnecessarily and never actually needing the cash was (100%-5%) *2% last year = 1.9% probability weighted wasted dilution. The risk this year is (100%-40%)*3% = 1.8%. If this is the case, it is a better decision to raise capital now than it was back then.
In reality, I think the decision not to raise capital last year was the wrong decision and last year would have been a better time. Most likely Elon was manipulated by shorts and FUD writers into not raising capital. Elon didn't raise capital just to prove a point to his enemies, which is exactly what they wanted him to do.
Either way, a few % dilution is irrelevant in the long run.
