After Ford and GM, Tesla managed to outperform BMW by market capitalization

Shares of Elon Musk’s electric-car maker climbed 1.4 percent as of 11:10 a.m. Friday, boosting its market capitalization to $61.6 billion, about $280 million more than BMW AG. Tesla now ranks as the fourth-most valuable automaker, behind Toyota Motor Corp., Daimler AG and Volkswagen AG.

Musk engendered more enthusiasm for the shares this week by reaffirming that the Model 3 sedan, Tesla’s most affordable car yet, will start production on time in July and be followed by a cheaper crossover he sees eventually drawing more demand. That vehicle, called the Model Y, is scheduled to arrive as soon as late 2019 and will necessitate its own assembly plant, the CEO said during Tesla’s annual meeting Tuesday.

For Tesla, surpassing BMW is significant because luxury carmakers earn bigger profit margins and their stocks trade at higher multiples of earnings than mass-market players like GM. Model S sedans and Model X crossovers compete for many of the same affluent buyers as BMW’s 7 Series or X6 sport utility vehicles.

Tesla Stocks is the new Ultimate Driving Machine!

Jr Trader Petar Milanov

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