After Musk's Denial, What's Really Cooking Between Tesla And Hertz?

$Hertz Global Holdings, Inc.(HTZZ.US)$ announcement in late October that it ordered 100,000 EVs from $Tesla(TSLA.US)$ was the main catalyst that helped the EV maker's stock eclipse the $1-trillion market cap mark.Although Tesla shares gained on the announcement, it was quite surprising that the press release did not contain a statement from Tesla or its CEO Elon Musk.

Musk Dampens Hertz Deal Optimism: Musk on Monday said in response to one of his Twitter follower's tweets regarding Tesla's stock price surge that no contract has been signed with Hertz yet.The Tesla chief went on to say Tesla has far more demand than production and therefore will sell cars to Hertz at the same margin as to customers.

Some Tesla officials were surprised at how soon Hertz said the order will be filled, the WSJ report said Thursday, citing a source. However, another official reportedly said the Hertz press release was shared with Tesla.

If the Wall Street Journal report proves correct, the deal is still on, and the only issue is with respect to the timing of the delivery of the EVs. This assumes all the more importance against the current backdrop of semiconductor shortage and supply chain constraints.