Tesla Might Become 'Trillion Dollar Company' Due To China

Tesla Inc. on Wall Street has been on an upswing since December 19 mostly because of positive news from China. Tesla shares hit $400 for the first time on news Tesla's plan to deliver its first Model 3 sedans assembled at the new Gigafactory 3 in Shanghai within the year. This event came to pass on December 30 when 15 Model 3 sedans were delivered to Giga Shanghai employees.

On the 23rd, Tesla shares hit a new record high of $422.01 in the afternoon. Tesla's market cap at trading day's end stood at $75.56 billion. And on December 31, Tesla's shares on the NASDAQ closed at $418.33, up 0.88% from Monday after opening at $405.00 and reaching a high of $421.29. Tesla's market cap hit $75.4 billion -- its highest thus far.

The string of Wall Street records being set by Tesla is opening speculation as to when Tesla will become a trillion dollar firm. In this group are only two firms: Apple Inc., which had a market cap Monday of $1.3 trillion, and Microsoft Corporation with a market value of $1.2 trillion. But Tesla's current record market cap of $75.56 billion pales in comparison to Apple's and Microsoft's.

Despite this fact, Galileo Russell, founder of HyperChange LLC., is all in for Tesla. HyperChange operates a television network, HyperChangeTV, which releases online videos about economics, finance and sustainability. Russell himself disclaims being a financial advisor on his company's broadcasts.

“I do think we're looking at a trillion dollar company in the long run,” said Russell to Yahoo Finance’s "On the Move" this week.

Russell, who owns Tesla stock, points out Tesla isn't only about electric vehicles (EVs). The company is also one of the world's leading battery makers. Russell says Tesla leads in battery technology (a huge revenue earner) and autonomous driving software. These technologies give Tesla what Russell calls a first mover advantage over other car makers in China.

“And that's why I'm a long term shareholder and plan on staying here for a long time, even though we've recently hit two highs,” he said.

Like many other pundits, Russell was surprised Tesla was able to deliver its first EVs assembled in China this year. Groundbreaking for Giga Shanghai only took place in January 2019.

“Even bullish investors like myself didn’t think they were going to start delivering cars from this factory in 2019. They built this from scratch in literally a year,” said Russell.

Russell also pointed out Tesla just received a $1.6 billion line of credit from the Chinese government. It's also tailoring the Model 3 for the Chinese market by adding Tencent video to its touch screens and unique software for Chinese buyers.

“It’s going to be a big success there,” claims Russell.