The Standard & Poor’s 500 has long been considered the standard bearer of the health of the United States economy. This index measures the stock performance of 500 large, publicly traded companies in the U.S. On Monday, the index announced it would be adding Tesla to its list of 500 on December 21st. Tesla was snubbed for inclusion in September, despite meeting the criteria set by the committee.
The news set after-hours trading ablaze as TSLA jumped over 12 percent, climbing to a new potential market cap over $400 billion. If this valuation holds until mid-December, Tesla will join the S&P Index as the ninth most valuable company on the list, slotting between Johnson & Johnson and Proctor & Gamble. This addition will kick Visa out of the top 10!
To Tesla’s credit, the company has posted five consecutive quarters of profit, even in the midst of massive global capital investment in three new gigafactories and the resources to craft a new, allegedly more efficient battery. The company is still doing big things, despite the absolute mess that the Full Self-Driving Beta launch was last month. That said, it delivered 139,300 new cars during Q3, which is pretty damn impressive. That 139,000 is a far sight from the company’s quarterly delivery goal delivery goal, but impressive nonetheless.
Tesla will be the highest valued company the S&P has ever added to its index, which is testament to the automaker’s explosive growth over the last few years. That’s not to say that this growth is tied in any way to reality, but here we are.
Ford and General Motors are also included in the S&P index, though FCA is not. Ford is ranked 194th on the index, while General Motors is ranked 130th. Tesla’s market value is currently than both of them combined — four times over.
The S&P committee has not yet announced which company Tesla will displace on the list of 500.