Tesla becomes world's most valuable car-maker
US EV-maker tops $100 billion for the first time as confidence in its future growsTesla has become the world's first $US100 billion ($A146b) car-maker to be publicly listed on the Wall Street stock exchange, making it the world's most valuable auto brand.
Towards the end of Wednesday trading, shares in Tesla had risen by 3.6 per cent to $566 ($A827) per share off the back of confidence in the car-maker's future ahead of the small Model Y SUV's launch.
Other contributing factors that helped see Tesla's stock double in value in the last three months is the news it delivered more cars than expected in 2019, it made a profit in October and it is about to ramp up production at its new Chinese manufacturing facility.
Back in August 2018 when shares traded at $330 ($A480), Tesla CEO Elon Musk rattled investors when he announced on Twitter that he had "funding secured" to take Tesla private.
Those claims were withdrawn swiftly following investor pressure and legal concerns. But the billion-dollar valuation now makes Tesla worth more than both Ford and General Motors combined.
Despite the rush to invest, some analysts remain cautious over Tesla's financial health. Speaking to Reuters, author and ex-CIO at Credit Suisse IWM, Mike O'Sullivan, said:
"The rise in the value of Tesla tells us little about the health of the car market (modest in the US, weaker in Germany and China), but a lot about investor behaviour and the state of banking.
"Anyone who thinks the sharply rising price is an indicator of Tesla’s future is mistaken."
To justify its worth, the general consensus from analysts commenting on the $US100 billion valuation is that Tesla must be both profitable on an annual basis and rapidly ramp up the number of cars it sells.
In Australia, Tesla is certainly showing signs of doing the latter. Last year, when the Model 3 finally arrived, it sold 3793 cars -- outselling Jaguar, MINI and Peugeot.
When the Tesla Model Y arrives, Elon Musk has already publicly stated that there will be more demand for it than "all the other cars of Tesla combined".
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