Tesla Stock Skyrocketed by Over 740% in 2020, Sold Nearly 500K Cars

Tesla has achieved meteoric growth in market value and stock price in 2020. Over the 12-month period, its market cap increased by over $500 billion year-to-date (YTD).

As a result, it rose higher than the cumulative market cap of the top eight automakers globally. These include Nissan, Toyota, Hyundai, Ford, GM, Peugeot, Honda and Fiat Chrysler.

According to the research data analyzed and published by Stock Apps, as of January 12, 2021, Tesla’s market capitalization is $834.17 billion. Comparatively, Toyota has a market cap of $213.86 billion, GM has $61.63 billion while Hyundai has $50.94 billion and $48.80 billion for Honda.

Fiat Chrysler’s market cap is $36.01 billion, Ford $35.81 billion, Peugeot $24.00 billion and Nissan $20.51 billion.

Moreover, Tesla’s stock price grew by a whopping 743% during the year according to Marketwatch. After opening 2020 at $84.90, it closed at $705.67 on December 31, 2020. As of January 12, 2021, it is trading at $818.50, up by 654.01% over the trailing 12-month period.

Among the key catalysts to this meteoric rise was its addition to the highly coveted S&P 500 index on December 21, 2020.

Wall Street is, however, split on what 2021 has in store for the stock. According to JP Morgan analysts, it will plummet by 87% in 2021 to a value of $90 per share. Goldman Sachs is optimistic, projecting a modest rise to $780 by the end of the year.

Wedbush has a 12-month price target of $715 but gives a bull case price of $1,000. CFRA Research is also bullish with a $750 target. But RBC Capital Markets projects a drop of more than 50% to $339.

Tesla’s Sales Jump by 36% YoY in 2020

The Elon Musk automaker released its sales report for the fourth quarter and the full year 2020 on January 2, 2021. According to the report, the volume of sales made Q4 2020 its best quarter ever.

During the three-month period, it had a total of 180,570 deliveries against Wall Street’s estimate of 174,000. Total production volume for the quarter reached 179,757.

For the full year, there were 499,550 deliveries, narrowly missing the target of half-a-million deliveries. In comparison to 2019, that marked an increase of 36%. Production volume for the full year totaled 509,737, surpassing its goal of 500,000.

The entry-level Model 3 and Model Y crossover dominated the sales, accounting for 86% of all deliveries for the full year. Luxury sedan Model S and the Model X SUV split the remaining 14%.

Tesla Targets $20 Million in Annual Sales

According to the Washington Post, automakers sold around 15.9 million new cars during the year, marking a 4.7% drop from 2019. In that case, Tesla’s nearly 500,000 deliveries make up about 3% of the total.

Furthermore, Tesla’s sales in 2020 were only a small fraction of the volume of vehicles sold by the aforementioned automakers.

GM reported total sales of 2.5 million cars in the US as well as light trucks during the year, down from 2.9 million in 2019. The final quarter of 2020 was the strongest Q4 for GM since 2007, as it sold 771,323 cars in the three-month period.

Toyota’s total car and light truck sales in the US in 2020 amounted to 2.1 million, down by 11% from the previous year. The automaker got a boost from December sales, which shot up by 20% due to robust demand for pickup trucks and SUVs.

Based on a joint forecast by LMC Automotive and JD Power, pickup trucks and SUVs were estimated to account for 79% of total auto sales in 2020. The figure rose from 75% in 2019.

Tesla, however, leads the pack when it comes to plug-in electric vehicles. According to data published by Statista, Tesla Model 3 was the best-selling plug-in electric vehicle globally in 2019. With unit sales surpassing 300,000 in that year, it sat well ahead of second-placed BAIC-EU Series, whose unit sales totaled 111,000.

Similarly, Model 3 was the global best-seller at the end of September 2020. At the time, it had lifetime sales totaling 645,000 according to Inside EVs. The Nissan LEAF was second with 490,000 unit sales while Tesla Model S took the third spot with 305,000.

It is worth noting that while Nissan LEAF has been in the market for about a decade, the Tesla Model 3 is only three years old.

Tesla announced that over the next decade, it plans to achieve an annual sales target of $20 million. By 2023, it plans to sell an EV car at $25,000, which could be a game changer for the industry.