Tesla shares surge again on hopes of S&P 500 listing
Shares in electric vehicle firm Tesla continued their meteoric rise today, jumping another 14.6 per cent to hit $1,770.33 this afternoon.
The new increase means that the firm’s shares have increased over 650 per cent in the last 12 months, when they were trading at $233.
Since beating expectations for vehicle delivery numbers at the beginning of this month, Tesla’s stock has continued a surge which has seen it quadruple in value since March.
Elon Musk’s firm now stands on the brink of being admitted to the S&P500 for the first time, if it reports a profit in its second quarter results on 22 July.
If, as analysts expect, it does so, it would mark Tesla’s fourth consecutive quarterly profit, a key requirement for addition to the index.
On Friday the share increase made Musk the seventh-richest man in the world, surpassing legendary investor Warren Buffett, with a net worth of $70.5bn.
Neil Wilson, chief market analyst at markets.com, said that today’s surge might be the result of funds deciding they need to get hold of shares in the firm before it joins the tech-heavy S&P, which will likely only push demand higher.
In a note, Roth Capital analyst Craig Irwin upgraded his rating for Tesla’s stock to neutral, saying the firm was making ready to enter the Indian market, which Irwin said has the same upside potential as China.
Earlier this month the firm also overtook Toyota to become the world’s most valuable car firm.
It now has a market cap of over $300bn, more than the values of Toyota, Ford, General Motors and Fiat Chrysler combined.