Tesla Inc.’s market capitalization surpassed Ford Motor Co., as investors bet Elon Musk can deliver on ambitious growth targets before his more affordable Model 3 sedan even hits the market.
The smallest and youngest publicly held U.S. carmaker climbed as much as 5.7 percent in early trading Monday, a day after reporting 25,000 first-quarter deliveries and exceeding analysts’ estimates. Tesla’s surging shares have boosted its market value to $47.8 billion, about $2.7 billion more than Ford.
Tesla delivered fewer than 80,000 vehicles globally last year to Ford’s 6.7 million. Though market cap is just one metric, it is a critical one for investors, as it reflects what they’re willing to pay for stock on the public market. Although Tesla has yet to manufacture in high volumes, investors are long on Musk as the company prepares to launch the Model 3, which intended to appeal to a broader audience and propel Tesla into the mainstream.
While Tesla’s market capitalization has swelled in size, Ford still overshadows the Palo Alto, California-based company in most other financial metrics. Over the last five years, Ford has posted net income totaling $26 billion, while Tesla has lost $2.3 billion. Last year, Ford had annual revenue of $151.8 billion compared with Tesla’s $7 billion.
And when it comes to car sales, Tesla sold 40,697 vehicles in the U.S. last year, according to researcher IHS Markit. Ford sells that many F-Series trucks in the U.S. about every three weeks.