Tesla's Market Value Beats GM's, Making It Number One Among Domestics

Workers are likely spinning in office chairs and there’s probably a second frozen yogurt machine on its way to Fremont as you read this.

After hitting a springboard on Monday morning, Tesla’s stock market value has now surpassed that of the former top-ranked U.S. automaker General Motors. This comes just a day after the electric automaker’s surging shares pushed past Ford, placing it in the number two spot.

There’s nowhere to go except down. What, too cynical?

At last report, Tesla’s share value sat at $301.85, up from $278 at the opening bell Monday morning and way, way up from $181 just four months ago. That means a market cap of $53.08 billion for the automaker. A positive quarterly report, in which the automaker delivered a record number of vehicles, sent the stock on a steep bounce.

Last week’s purchase of a 5-percent stake in Tesla by Chinese investment holding company Tencent Holdings was another vote of confidence in the company. This is the first time the company’s shares have reached the $300 mark.

Meanwhile, GM’s flagging stock market prowess is Tesla’s gain. Its share value now rests at $34.40, for a market cap of $49.77 billion. By the New Year, GM’s stock had risen out of a trough it inhabited for most of the previous year, where it hit a low point of $27.46 per share in February, 2016. The post-recession high point for the company came in late 2013.

Of course, stock market performance is only one part of the financial picture. To date, Tesla has only broken even in two quarters, while Ford and GM rake in billions each year — preventing the need for fundraising expeditions. Tesla CEO Elon Musk also finds himself battling a growing unionization movement that could threaten his balance sheet.

[Image: Tesla Motors]