Tesla Surpasses Ford and, Briefly, GM, In Market Cap, Making It Most Valuable US Automaker

The most significant implication is not Tesla's daily market capitalization, which will continue to fluctuate in relation to other auto companies, but that given its recent start, it is competitive with these larger, more experienced and established businesses.

This suggests changes both in the economics of auto manufacturing and in consumer perceptions of future value. JL

Darrell Etherington reports in Tech Crunch:

Tesla’s stock is buoyed in large part by its potential: The company has been readying its Model 3 electric vehicle, with a price tag starting at $35,000. Demand is strong, with 373,000 pre-orders as of May last year. It seems on target to meet its goal of beginning shipment this year. The big U.S. automakers, by contrast, had bad news to report for first quarter vehicle sales in the U.S., which makes Tesla look like a strong growth stock
Tesla is trading up again, after a strong run that saw its total market cap value leapfrog Ford’s. It passed GM’s market cap on Tuesday, meaning it’s now the most valuable U.S. automaker as measured by the stock market’s standards.
It looked quite likely that this was going to happen yesterday, and Tesla’s stock has been on a tear following its report that both car production and car deliveries were up during the first quarter of the year. The big established U.S. automakers, by contrast, had bad news to report for first quarter vehicle sales in the U.S., which makes Tesla look like a strong growth stock and competitors look like stable performers, at best.
Tesla’s stock is buoyed in large part by its potential: The company has been readying to launch its Model 3 electric vehicle, with a price tag starting at $35,000 U.S. before tax incentives for green vehicles. Demand is incredibly strong, with around 373,000 pre-orders as of May last year. So far, it seems on target to meet its goal of beginning shipment this year, and even delivering some of the first vehicles by the end of 2017.
Tesla was trading up around 1.8 percent as of this writing, with a stock price of $303.89 per share and a total market cap of $53.06 billion, while GM was tracking at around $34.40 per share, with a total market cap of $49.80 billion.