Tesla doesn’t struggle to stay in the headlines thanks to its charismatic and oft-controversial CEO and founder, Elon Musk.
But that doesn’t mean that the stock price always performs well and, indeed, Tesla’s stock price had become a point of contention of late as many expressed doubts about the company’s long term viability as well as the stability of the company.
Those investors might be able to set aside their concerns as Tesla’s stock has not only posted a 52-week high, but also confidence in its leader and his vision for electric vehicles remains as relevant (and dominant) as ever.
So, what’s changed?
Let’s just say that a jump in value of 74% over the last six months has pretty much ended speculation about whether or not Elon can do it.
That, coupled with a meme-worthy launch of its latest vehicle concept, the aptly named Cybertruck, and the company is hitting on all cylinders to bring which resulted in an average value of $393 per share.
As of writing this article, the stock hovers around $435 making it one of the hottest stocks on the index.
There is one interesting aspect to these numbers and that is that they are just past of the $420 “funding secured” proclamation that last drove stock prices soaring but which also soured the investing community on Elon Musk for a temporary time.
Why?
The funding secured line referred to Musk’s “idea” of taking Tesla private at a valuation of $420 per share.
When Musk tweeted to his audience that this finance had supposedly been obtained, the market reacted accordingly as the stock was (and still is) undervalued compared to Musk’s generous valuation at $420.
When this didn’t happen, the company was basically spanked like an unruly child by the market and the SEC similarly slapped Musk with some embarrassing but largely harmless measures.
Admitting that the company was undergoing a capital crisis at the time, Musk instituted a series of radical changes to the company such as online-only vehicle sales which were largely reversed once the company secured a lifeline of some $2 billion.
Since that time, Tesla continues to prove itself as a worthy investment in the EV market and perhaps the single biggest evangelist for the platform.
Another bit of momentum behind the stock price value might be the ending of the EV tax incentive in Tesla’s critical US market.
This incentive makes the cost of owning a Tesla much more economical for owners and has resulted in an end-of-quarter push to get deliveries fulfilled to allow new owners to take advantage of the tax subsidies offered by the disappearing incentive.
Of course, none of this is taking into consideration Musk’s aggressive and so far successful push into China, the current reigning champ in electric vehicles in terms of sales and infrastructure.
Arriving and maintaining a large presence in China is not only key to Tesla’s success but also a key test of the company’s business model going forward.
After all, if Tesla struggles in the Middle Kingdom with its relative embrace of EV, then what are the prospects for other markets?
Those are the questions that remain to be answered tomorrow but, so far, Tesla’s future is so bright it needs to wear shades.
