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I think for many investors the large appeal of Tesla is in the batteries and infrastructure put in place for charge stations.

xyzzyz 6y ago
If it's about batteries, why isn't then Panasonic stock booming? Panasonic is the one that's actually supplying the technology and building the Tesla's battery factories. However, Panasonic's market cap is less than 5% of Tesla's, and batteries are not even its main business. It seems that the investors value Panasonic's battery technology and expertise at something like 1% of Tesla's market cap. I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "infrastructure put in place", but I can't imagine running charge stations to be hugely profitable business: gas stations most certainly aren't. They might still be pretty good business, but they clearly are not so good to account for hundreds of billions in valuation.
- yazaddaruvala 6y ago
  Your information is a little out of date. Panasonic will now manufacture TSLA designed batteries, but TSLA will also be contracting other firms and build manufacturing facilities itself. https://electrek.co/2020/12/27/tesla-tsla-4680-battery-cell-produced-panasonic-report/ https://electrek.co/2020/12/27/tesla-tsla-4680-battery-cell-...
  - xyzzyz 6y ago
    It does seem to be out of date, but doesn't change the thrust of my argument. With the advancements of battery technology by Tesla, would you say that Tesla's battery business (which is mostly IP and research labs) is worth more than entire Panasonic's business? I say that's highly unlikely: building a good research lab and coming up with a good new battery design is worth a lot, but not tens of billions of dollars. Even if it was worth as much as entire Panasonic, it would still be <5% of Tesla's market cap. As such, I can't see how Tesla's battery business would explain its huge market cap.
    - yazaddaruvala 6y ago
      Oh, I don't know. I'm not able to predict anything about Tesla, and I'm not trying to. My bad for seeming like I was contradicting your argument, I have no opinion on that. I was just clarifying some of the facts.

xyzzyz 6y ago

If it's about batteries, why isn't then Panasonic stock booming? Panasonic is the one that's actually supplying the technology and building the Tesla's battery factories. However, Panasonic's market cap is less than 5% of Tesla's, and batteries are not even its main business. It seems that the investors value Panasonic's battery technology and expertise at something like 1% of Tesla's market cap. I'm not sure what exactly you mean by "infrastructure put in place", but I can't imagine running charge stations to be hugely profitable business: gas stations most certainly aren't. They might still be pretty good business, but they clearly are not so good to account for hundreds of billions in valuation.

yazaddaruvala 6y ago
Your information is a little out of date. Panasonic will now manufacture TSLA designed batteries, but TSLA will also be contracting other firms and build manufacturing facilities itself. https://electrek.co/2020/12/27/tesla-tsla-4680-battery-cell-produced-panasonic-report/ https://electrek.co/2020/12/27/tesla-tsla-4680-battery-cell-...
- xyzzyz 6y ago
  It does seem to be out of date, but doesn't change the thrust of my argument. With the advancements of battery technology by Tesla, would you say that Tesla's battery business (which is mostly IP and research labs) is worth more than entire Panasonic's business? I say that's highly unlikely: building a good research lab and coming up with a good new battery design is worth a lot, but not tens of billions of dollars. Even if it was worth as much as entire Panasonic, it would still be <5% of Tesla's market cap. As such, I can't see how Tesla's battery business would explain its huge market cap.
  - yazaddaruvala 6y ago
    Oh, I don't know. I'm not able to predict anything about Tesla, and I'm not trying to. My bad for seeming like I was contradicting your argument, I have no opinion on that. I was just clarifying some of the facts.