While Tesla might never carry the tradition and history of some of the nation’s oldest automakers, it now has every reason to feel equally, if not more, important.
Tesla, the youngest and smallest publicly held U.S. automaker, saw its market capitalization surpass Ford’s on Monday, making it the second-most valuable U.S. auto manufacturer after General Motors, according to Bloomberg. Following a 5.7 percent increase in early trading Monday, Tesla’s market value reportedly reached $47.8 billion, roughly $2.7 billion more than Ford’s.
The news came one day after Tesla reported 25,000 first-quarter deliveries, a figure that exceeded the estimates of of industry analysts, according to Bloomberg. Moreover, the spike in shares comes before the Model 3, Tesla’s affordable alternative to the Model S and Model X, has even hit the market.
Tesla surpassed Ford’s value despite delivering fewer than 80,000 vehicles globally last year, compared to Ford’s 6.7 million, according to Bloomberg. Investors now apparently are banking on Tesla CEO Elon Musk making good on his promise to produce the Model 3 at high volumes, something Tesla hasn’t done with its previous models.
Still, Ford bests Tesla in virtually every other financial metric.
Ford has posted a net income of $26 billion over the last five years, whereas Tesla has lost $2.3 billion, according to Bloomberg. And in 2016, Ford posted annual revenue of $151.8 billion, dwarfing Tesla’s $7 billion.
Thumbnail photo via Flickr/Jeff Cooper
