With Tesla shares on something of a historic run, the company earlier today became the most valuable car company the US has ever seen. This is something of a remarkable achievement given all of the turmoil Tesla has found itself in over the past few years. From a seemingly endless number of production problems to a handful of controversies involving Elon Musk, Tesla has impressively moved past all that in a relatively short period of time.
Two and a half months ago, Tesla shares were trading at $254. Today, Tesla shares hit the $470 threshold for the first time in history. All told, Tesla shares have jumped by upwards of 85% in just a few weeks. As it stands now, Tesla’s market cap hovers around $84.3 billion, giving the EV maker a valuation that is higher than even Ford was at the height of its popularity.
All the more impressive, Tesla’s valuation today is now just $2 billion shy of Ford and GM’s market cap combined.
As for the seemingly abrupt appreciation in Tesla shares, there are a few factors in play. For starters, interest in Tesla’s recently unveiled Cybertruck appears to be quite high, despite some concerns over the vehicles somewhat polarizing design.
Second, Tesla in 2019 set a new record for deliveries. When the dust settled, Tesla delivered 367,500 vehicles throughout the year, up from 182,400 vehicles in 2018.
Third, there’s renewed optimism surrounding Tesla’s prospects in China. To this point, Musk was in China today at the company’s Shanghai factory where he said that it will serve as a “template for future growth.” Specifically, Musk said that Tesla is aiming for a production rate of 500,000 cars per year in Shanghai alone.
Interestingly, Musk added that Tesla’s Shanghai factory will help manufacture the Model Y, a crossover version of the Model 3. Speaking to the company’s expectations for the Model Y, Musk has said that the Model Y may prove to be more popular than all of the other company’s vehicles combined.
