Tesla is now more valuable than Ford after shares of the electric car maker increased by about 7 percent, pushing stock value to border on $300.
While Tesla had a $49 billion market value, Ford had a $46 billion market value at the end of day.
Tesla Beats Ford
According to the BBC, Tesla's rising shares can be attributed to the record vehicle deliveries in Q1 of 2017. To be precise, the company managed to push out more than 25,000 electric vehicles in the first three months, upping the numbers by 69 percent compared with the figures in the same quarter in 2016.
"Tesla delivered just over 25,000 vehicles in Q1, of which approximately 13,450 were Model S and approximately 11,550 were Model X. This was a new quarterly record for us and represents a 69 [percent] increase over Q1 2016. Our delivery count should be viewed as slightly conservative, as we only count a car as delivered if it is transferred to the customer and all paperwork is correct," the manufacturer's report reads, pointing out that 4,650 vehicles weren't counted in the total Q1 deliveries, as they were still in transit to customers.
On the other side of the fence, Ford's recent recall of F-150 pickup trucks, among other things, cost the company a 7 percent decrease in monthly sales in the United States during March.
However, despite the positive outlook for Tesla, its sales are still far from Ford's performance in the market, with the latter selling approximately 6.7 million vehicles in 2016. Incidentally, the electric car maker sold 76,000 vehicles in the same year.
Model X
One of the notable factors driving Tesla's growth is the Model X, as The Motley Fool explains.
As mentioned earlier, 11,500 Model X vehicles were delivered for the first quarter of 2017, significantly pushing the numbers up from 2,400 in the same quarter in 2016, which is a 379 percent increase.
This shows that the company is more than capable of producing the Model X in large quantities regardless of the initial doubts in mass-manufacturing such a complex vehicle.
Model 3
The Motley Fool says that the Model 3 is the other aspect that's spurring Tesla's growth, particularly how the company is handling the vehicle's timeline to date.
That said, the electric car maker is now gunning for a July starting date, moving from the original "late 2017" target.
Elon Musk
Ben Kallo, a Robert W. Baird analyst, notes that Elon Musk's charisma — or what he calls "magic dust" — appeals to talented staff and investors.
"Five years ago, no one knew what a Tesla was. Now people want a Tesla. It has usurped BMW as an aspirational car," he says.
Others: SolarCity And Self-Driving Technology
Dropping "Motors" from its brand name in February, Tesla stepped beyond electric cars. That means there are more factors to consider in terms of the company's growth, including efforts in products with SolarCity and the rollout of self-driving technology.
To boil things down, Tesla is now officially ahead of Ford because of the record vehicle deliveries in Q1 of 2017, and the overall growth pushed stocks near $300 thanks to the Model X and Model 3, to name a few.
