Ahead of the forthcoming share split, Tesla breached the $2,000 mark on Thursday for the very first time as the electric car manufacturer continued to enjoy a momentous run at the stock market. Closing in at a record price of $2,001.83, the shares were up 6.6 percent for the day.
Tesla's surge on Thursday put its stock market value at $372 billion, which was greater than all but seven of the S&P 500's components. According to Refinitiv, the Palo Alto, California-based company stock is currently priced at an immensely high 148 times, and the upcoming stock split will not affect its valuation.
Among Highest-priced Shares
With many investors betting Tesla will be added to the S&P 500 after a strong quarterly report last month, the stock has surged over 300 percent in 2020. The stock has jumped 45 percent just since August 11, when Tesla announced a five-for-one stock split, with shareholders of record on August 21 receiving four additional shares for each share they own, distributed after the close of trading on August 28.
Tesla's stock is among the highest-priced, per share, on Wall Street, and the company has said it was looking to make its shares more accessible to employees and investors. However, with Robinhood and other brokerages increasingly letting customers by fractions of individual shares, the benefit of stock splits has become less obvious, making Tesla's rally following the announcement of its stock split surprising to some professional investors.
Presentation of Battery Innovations Expected
Tesla will start rolling out "made-in-China" Model Y vehicles at its factory in Shanghai starting in 2021, the Global Times tweeted on Thursday, citing an unnamed executive.
Investors expect important announcements when Tesla holds its long-awaited Battery Day on September 22, the same day as its annual shareholder meeting. The company is expected to present battery innovations, with analysts at Morgan Stanley predicting a company announcement on supplying "superior" battery packs to the auto industry.
(With inputs from agencies)
