• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Wall Street Values Tesla Motors at $620,000 per Car

By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
By
Reuters
Reuters
Down Arrow Button Icon
May 3, 2016, 2:18 PM ET
Courtesy of Tesla

Company founder and CEO Elon Musk may not mention Tesla Motors’s stock price when his electric car company gives its latest financial update on Wednesday, but it will be front and center for investors divided over its seemingly rich valuation.

After a rally that ended in April, Tesla’s market capitalization is currently about $31 billion—equivalent to $620,000 for every car it delivered last year, or $63,000 for every car it hopes to produce in 2020.

By comparison, General Motors’s $48 billion market value is equivalent to about $4,800 for every vehicle it sold last year.

Tesla’s heady valuation—about 125 times the next 12 months of expected earnings—and the implication that shareholders may be overpaying for Musk’s small but fast-growing luxury car company have made the stock a favorite of short sellers.

Read More: What to Watch for in Tesla’s Earnings on Wednesday

Short sellers borrow shares and then sell them, hoping to buy them back later at a cheaper price.

Tesla is among the world’s 10 most-shorted companies by market value, even after an 85% rally earlier this year scalded some of those short sellers. In the past month, short bets against Tesla fell by over $1 billion, but are still above $6 billion, according to financial analytics firm S3 Partners.

“This is not just day traders coming in and out of the market. This is fundamental guys who have put it in their portfolio and are saying, ‘We don’t believe this valuation is correct,'” said Ihor Dusaniwsky, S3’s head of research.

Vilas Capital Management Chief Executive John Thompson, one of those short sellers, said he believes investors underestimate the hurdles Tesla faces trying to rapidly increase production, including the cost to build future high-end robotic assembly lines.

Get Data Sheet, Fortune’s technology newsletter

“They’re going to have to spend an enormous amount of money on capital expenditures to achieve their long-term goals and they don’t have the money because they don’t have the earnings,” Thompson said. “So they’re going to have to sell stock to finance it.”

Musk has promised to turn Tesla’s first net profit by the fourth quarter. After selling 52,000 cars last year, Tesla aims to sell 500,000 annually by 2020.

But its stock price suggests investors expect even more aggressive growth.

If Tesla shares were to grow 10% a year for the next 10 years—not unreasonable for a popular growth company—it would have to reach annual sales of 1.5 million cars at triple GM’s typical $1,000-per-car profit to justify a more moderate price-earnings ratio of 20. Last year, GM sold 10 million cars and Ford sold 6.6 million.

For more about Tesla’s wild ride on the market, watch:

Tesla could make money in the future selling batteries or autonomous vehicles, but its valuation is questionable nonetheless and leaves no allowance for operational setbacks, said Georgetown University business professor James Angel.

“This stock is definitely priced to perfection. If he pulls everything off, it’s probably worth its current value, but there’s a huge amount of execution risk here,” Angel said.

Recent problems like malfunctioning doors and glitchy sensors have cast light on the difficulty of quickly expanding production as Tesla prepares to launch its Model 3 sedan next year.

When it reports first-quarter results on Wednesday, analysts will watch to see whether it is on track to deliver positive cash flow for 2016 and become profitable.

About the Author
By Reuters
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon

Latest in

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025

Most Popular

Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Finance
Lorem ipsum dolor sit amet, consectetur adipiscing elit, sed do eiusmod tempor incididunt ut labore et dolore magna aliqua. Ut enim ad minim veniam
By Fortune Editors
October 20, 2025
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • Future 50
  • World’s Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
Sections
  • Finance
  • Leadership
  • Success
  • Tech
  • Asia
  • Europe
  • Environment
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Health
  • Retail
  • Lifestyle
  • Politics
  • Newsletters
  • Magazine
  • Features
  • Commentary
  • Mpw
  • CEO Initiative
  • Conferences
  • Personal Finance
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
About Us
  • About Us
  • Editorial Calendar
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Diversity And Inclusion
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • Pinterest icon

© 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.


Most Popular

placeholder alt text
Economy
Elon Musk warns the U.S. is '1,000% going to go bankrupt' unless AI and robotics save the economy from crushing debt
By Jason MaFebruary 7, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Even with $850 billion to his name, Elon Musk admits ‘money can’t buy happiness.’ But billionaire Mark Cuban says it’s not so simple
By Preston ForeFebruary 6, 2026
2 days ago
placeholder alt text
Success
Gen Z Patriots quarterback Drake Maye still drives a 2015 pickup truck even after it broke down on the highway—despite his $37 million contract
By Sasha RogelbergFebruary 7, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Future of Work
Anthropic cofounder says studying the humanities will be 'more important than ever' and reveals what the AI company looks for when hiring
By Jason MaFebruary 7, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
AI
AI can make anyone rich: Mark Cuban says it could turn 'just one dude in a basement' into a trillionaire
By Sydney LakeFebruary 7, 2026
1 day ago
placeholder alt text
Energy
Next-gen nuclear's tipping point: Meta and hyperscalers start deals with Bill Gates’ TerraPower, Sam Altman-backed Oklo, and more
By Jordan BlumFebruary 7, 2026
23 hours ago

Latest in

InvestingGold
Bessent sees ‘unruly’ Chinese trading behind gold price swings
By Maria Paula Mijares Torres, Hadriana Lowenkron and BloombergFebruary 8, 2026
1 hour ago
Investinggambling
Gambling stocks sag as prediction markets steal Super Bowl bets
By Peyton Forte, Denitsa Tsekova and BloombergFebruary 8, 2026
1 hour ago
PoliticsJapan
Japanese prime minister’s landslide win gives her party a lower-house supermajority and more room to enact a right-wing agenda
By Mari Yamaguchi, Foster Klug and The Associated PressFebruary 8, 2026
2 hours ago
InvestingVenture Capital
NFL legend Joe Montana lived around top VC execs as a 49er, then leveraged those ties to launch his second career as an investor
By Jason MaFebruary 8, 2026
2 hours ago
bad bunny
Arts & EntertainmentMusic
How Bad Bunny went from Super Bowl supporting act to headliner with ticket sales to rival Taylor Swift
By Jake AngeloFebruary 8, 2026
3 hours ago
CybersecurityJeffrey Epstein
FBI found little evidence Epstein ran a sex trafficking ring for powerful men and concluded a ‘client list’ doesn’t exist
By Michael R. Sisak, David B. Caruso, Larry Neumeister and The Associated PressFebruary 8, 2026
4 hours ago