There’s zero car based explanation for Tesla’s valuation. Cars are still a relatively low margin and capital intensive business even for Tesla. Best case they pass Toyota as the world’s biggest car maker. They’ll have the same profit profile, and their valuation is already higher than Toyota.
People point to the solar panels and battery storage products. It’s a tiny business with a negative gross margin. I’m not sure how that business becomes profitable when gross margin is negative.
Elon has a hand in a ton of different things. Part of me wonders if investors are just dumb and don’t realize they are separate businesses, and they only get shares of Tesla. It wouldn’t surprise me if people think they’re basically buying shares of Elon and all his projects. That’d be far more appealing than just Tesla.