Investor's Corner
The finer points of Tesla’s (TSLA) S&P 500 Inclusion
This week, it was announced that Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) would join the S&P 500 Index on December 21st. The news shot the stock up nearly $100 in just two days, with most of the surge coming directly after the Tuesday announcement. While it is impressive enough that Tesla is finally being included in the S&P, some finer points aren’t being discussed, like Tesla’s young age compared to other companies in the index and its massive size going into the inclusion date.
Tesla’s 2020 performance on Wall Street has been more than impressive, and it was only a matter of time before larger, more prestigious investment indexes would look to acquire the electric car company. After soaring from $86 to over $500 throughout the year, Tesla broke yet another record this week after beating its all-time high price per share on Thursday.
Tesla could be the 6th most valuable company in the Index
With the surge in stock price comes an extreme growth in terms of company market cap, and the substantial increase in price per share has contributed significantly to Tesla’s valuation. If Tesla were to be added to the S&P today, it would be the sixth-largest company in the Index, in front of Berkshire Hathaway and behind Alphabet Inc., Google’s parent company.
The only companies that would be considered more valuable than Tesla would be Alphabet Inc. Class A Shares, Facebook, Amazon, Microsoft, and Apple, all of which are the leaders in their respective industries. Although Apple and Microsoft could be considered a 1-2 punch in the tech world, the other companies are all surely at the head of the pack in their respective sectors.
Tesla will be one of the youngest companies in the Index
With Tesla being founded in 2003, it will be 17 years old when it joins the S&P 500 Index in December. That makes the company’s addition even more significant because its impact in such a short span of time is evident. While many of us recognize Tesla as the EV tech leader, the company could be considered the leader in the automotive sector altogether. This is simply incredible when you consider that Tesla has only had cars on the road since 2008 and has only been a mass-market carmaker since 2017 when the Model 3 was introduced.
However, Tesla has a tremendous influence on other car companies. Legacy automakers are fighting to stay relevant and admitting that they must make a transition to electrification. With Tesla leading that charge, new tricks are being taught to old dogs. It is just a matter of whether the old dogs choose to continue learning “new tricks.” If they don’t, they will slowly fade away as EVs become more popular on the road.
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Tesla is one of the only car companies in the Index
Tesla will join GM and Ford, two of the biggest names in the automotive sector, in the Index. The S&P 500 inclusion requirements are lofty, like an $8.2B market cap, have at least 10% of its shares outstanding, have its most recent quarter be profitable, and have a consecutive string of at least four profitable quarters.
2020 has not been the most forgiving year for many companies, and automotive manufacturers are no exception. Demand for new vehicles has effectively fallen off the table because of the COVID-19 pandemic, and it has caused many once-successful car companies to taste the losses of momentum. Companies that make affordable, petrol-powered sedans also are experiencing dropoffs in demand because people cannot afford new vehicles.
Because of this, large car companies that are publicly listed on NASDAQ are missing out on their opportunities to string together consecutive quarters and provide profitable margins to their investors. But Tesla isn’t having this issue because their cars are more than just vehicles. They are software devices. They are new ways to get from Point A to Point B. And, with many people worried about climate issues, electric cars are the only acceptable way to travel.
Tesla is joining the S&P during a year where growth was virtually impossible
To grow on the past points made, this year was supposed to be dramatically difficult for almost every company on the planet that wouldn’t increase work efficiency in a pandemic. Early winners were companies like Zoom, who created communication possibilities while not being near other people. Nobody would have thought that a company selling $35,000+ cars would see this much growth, but it has.
Tesla’s company mission attacks more than one issue in today’s world. Many investors and firms alike forget this fact: Tesla isn’t just a car company. They’re making solar panels, big batteries, and cars. Not to mention, their energy products are suitable for both commercial and residential use, making them desirable for a large market.
If we all could go back to the beginning of the pandemic, we would bet that car companies wouldn’t do well this year. They didn’t. But Tesla did, and it is because their identity as a true tech company has helped surge them past the label of “automaker” or “sustainable energy company.” Tesla is bigger than that, and when investors realize it, their portfolios will benefit.
I use this newsletter to share my thoughts on what is going on in the Tesla world. If you want to talk to me directly, you can email me or reach me on Twitter. I don’t bite, be sure to reach out!
Update: Revisions made to third subsection at 9:45 EST.
Investor's Corner
Tesla just did something in South Korea that no foreign carmaker has ever done
Tesla’s Model Y just became South Korea’s best-selling car, beating every domestic model in May.
Tesla did something last month that no foreign car has ever done in South Korea by outselling every vehicle in the country, domestic or imported, finishing the month with Model Y as the single best-selling car across the entire Korean market. According to data from the Korea Automobile Importers and Distributors Association released on June 4, the Model Y recorded 8,762 units sold in May, pushing the Kia Sorento into second place at 7,836 units and the Hyundai Grandeur into third at 5,183 units. It is the first time an imported vehicle has outsold every domestic model on a single-month basis.
Tesla imported 10,866 cars into South Korea in May, making it the top import brand for the fourth consecutive month. BMW followed at 6,555 units, less than two-thirds of Tesla’s total, while BYD registered just 1,032 units. The combined domestic sales of GM Korea, Renault Korea, and KG Mobility last month totaled just 7,019 units, meaning a single Tesla model outsold three Korean automakers combined.
Tesla FSD earns high praise in South Korea’s real-world autonomous driving test
South Korea has historically been one of the hardest markets for foreign automakers to crack. Hyundai and Kia together control close to 70% of the overall market and carry deep consumer loyalty built over decades. Tesla’s path into this market was an uphill battle due to high import duties, limited service infrastructure, and early skepticism about charging networks. In 2024, the Model Y was the best-selling imported car in South Korea with 18,717 units for the full year. By 2025, after the Juniper refresh, it cleared 50,000 units and took the top spot among all EVs.
Year to date, Tesla has a 250.8% increase in the country over the same period last year, and now holds a 30.8% share of the entire imported car segment for 2026. EVs as a category represented 48.6% of all imported passenger car registrations in May. As Teslarati has reported, the Juniper refresh brought meaningful improvements to range, interior quality, and ride refinement that addressed the most common criticisms of earlier Model Y versions. Those upgrades appear to be resonating in markets like South Korea where buyers compare Tesla directly against high end domestic competitors.
The Ontario Teachers’ Pension Plan (OTPP) stands to reap one of the most extraordinary returns in pension fund history thanks to a bold 2019 investment in SpaceX.
According to a recent report from The Globe and Mail, the Toronto-based fund invested roughly $300 million CAD (~$220 million USD at the time) in Elon Musk’s space company as its inaugural deal through the Teachers’ Innovation Platform.
At SpaceX’s anticipated $1.75 trillion IPO valuation, set for a mid-June debut on Nasdaq under ticker $SPCX, that stake could now be worth up to $11.6 billion USD. This would represent a roughly 50x return and easily become OTPP’s most successful single investment ever.
The fund manages $279 billion in assets for approximately 346,000 working and retired teachers in Ontario, potentially delivering an average boost of around $33,500 per member if fully realized.
SpaceX has filed its S-1 and plans to price shares at $135 each, aiming to raise a record $75 billion in what would be the largest IPO in history, surpassing Saudi Aramco. The company reported $18.67 billion in revenue for 2025, driven primarily by Starlink satellite internet growth and NASA contracts, though it continues to post significant losses tied to ambitious R&D in Starship and AI initiatives.
Important pieces moving forward include:
- Starlink Expansion: The satellite broadband service is scaling rapidly, targeting global connectivity, especially in underserved rural and remote areas. This segment offers massive recurring revenue potential as numbers climb.
- Starship and Reusability Leadership: SpaceX’s fully reusable Starship aims to slash launch costs dramatically, enabling frequent missions, Mars ambitions, and lucrative government/defense contracts. Success here could unlock exponential growth.
- AI and Diversification: Recent moves, including ties to xAI, position SpaceX in high-growth AI infrastructure, broadening beyond traditional aerospace.
- Validation Scrutiny: While the $1.75 trillion target excites investors, analysts like Morningstar value the company closer to $780 billion, citing high multiples (around 90x trailing revenue) and execution risks. A 180-day lockup period will prevent early investors like OTPP from selling immediately post-IPO.
The irony has not been lost on observers. Ontario’s government previously canceled a Starlink rural internet contract amid political tensions involving Musk, yet the pension fund’s savvy investment, made when SpaceX was valued around $33-36 billion, and Starlink was nascent, delivers outsized gains independent of politics.
For OTPP, this windfall strengthens its already solid 111 percent funding ratio and underscores the value of patient, innovation-focused capital allocation.
For SpaceX, the IPO marks a new chapter: greater transparency, access to public markets for talent retention and growth capital, and heightened pressure to deliver on its multi-planetary vision.
All eyes are fixed on whether SpaceX can justify its lofty valuation through sustained execution. For Ontario teachers, the returns are already stellar, but SpaceX, like other Musk companies in the past, has plenty of things to prove. Perhaps the most ideal person for the job is at the helm, hoping to bring the company to a massive valuation.
Tesla has its answer to grow its automotive sales over the next few years, TD Cowen analyst Itay Michaeli says, but it just has to bring it to the U.S.
On Thursday, Michaeli reiterated his $490 price target and the ‘Buy’ rating he already held on Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA). However, its automotive division has struggled to show sequential growth over the past few years, mostly due to its focus on AI and Full Self-Driving. Tesla already axed two of its lower-volume vehicles with the Model S and Model X earlier this year.
However, Tesla does not need to engineer an entire new vehicle to trigger an upward tick in sales; it just has to bring it from China to the U.S., Michaeli said.
He is talking about the Model Y L, a slightly larger version of the all-electric crossover that is already available in China. U.S. customers have been pleading with CEO Elon Musk to bring it to the country since its launch in Asia last year, but he’s not convinced of it because of the advent of self-driving and its importance in this particular market.
The problem is that Tesla owners have been requesting something larger that could fit a typical American family. The Model Y L is slightly larger than the standard Model Y, but some are concerned that it could still be too small to fit what most people might need.
Instead, they have asked for a full-size SUV from Tesla.
Tesla gives big hint that it will build Cyber SUV, smaller Cybertruck
Nevertheless, the Model Y L still presents a great opportunity for Tesla in the U.S., and Michaeli says that there is an additional sales opportunity of about 100,000 units, with demand potential falling somewhere between 60,000 and 135,000 units.
TD Cowen’s note to investors also analyzed that Tesla’s growth could come from a stock perspective as well, positively impacting the stock price, as it has been widely reliant on vehicle sales, even though Tesla has truly phased itself away from that being an important metric.
Tesla stands to gain greatly from the introduction of the Model Y L in the U.S., but only if Elon Musk sees it as a viable fit for the market. Families may need to see Tesla bring something larger to the U.S., or they might be forced to buy from another automaker that offers something that fits is needs for more interior space to haul around the kids.
Tesla tipped its hand at where Robotaxi is heading next
Tesla just did something in South Korea that no foreign carmaker has ever done
