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Tesla charging station: Like Apple, the e-car manufacturer is creating its own ecosystem for its customers
Photo: Joe Jezowski
The imminent entry of Tesla into the US S&P 500 index promises a sharp increase in trading volumes in the shares of the electric car maker.
According to the index provider S&P Dow Jones Indices, funds that track the S&P 500 index 1: 1 must buy Tesla shares with a volume of 80 billion dollars by the close of trading on Friday in order to have the company in their portfolios according to its weighting .
At the same time, these funds would have to sell stocks of the other index members on a large scale in order to make room in the portfolio, said Ivan Cajic, chief index analyst at the brokerage firm Virtu ITG.
On Friday evening, Tesla shares (chart) were at a record high of around 680 US dollars.
The managers of funds that measure their performance by the price development compared to the S&P 500 must also decide whether to invest in Tesla.
So far, many of them shy away from getting involved.
Missing production targets and scandals by founder Elon Musk give them a headache.
Tesla's price has increased almost eightfold since the beginning of the year.
At around $ 623 billion, the automaker is the sixth most valuable publicly traded US company and valued higher than its rivals BMW, Daimler, General Motors (GM), Toyota and Volkswagen combined.
Since the announcement of the move into the S&P 500 in November alone, Tesla titles have gained around 60 percent.
Tesla generates 18 billion dollars in trading volume per day
They are also the most heavily traded stocks on the US stock exchange.
On average, papers with a volume of 18 billion dollars change hands every day.
The titles of the iPhone manufacturer Apple, which has a market capitalization three times as high as Tesla, followed by a clear margin in second place with 14 billion dollars.
Since the beginning of 2020, the price of Tesla shares has increased almost eightfold: Adam Jonas, a renowned auto analyst at the US investment bank Morgan Stanley, sees a profound change in Tesla's business model.
The electric car manufacturer is currently changing from a simple car salesman to a company that generates an ever increasing share of sales with software and other services.
In other words: Tesla is a mixture of automaker and software company, which can achieve much higher profit margins with its software and IT services than by selling cars alone.
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Due to its brand strength and its technological lead, Tesla is in the process of transforming its customers into loyal subscribers, argues Jonas.
Tesla is already offering its customers various software-based service packages, such as fee-based performance upgrades or a premium infotainment package.
Up to 200 Tesla could convert an average of around 100 dollars with each user of such software services - per month.
The high level of brand loyalty among Tesla fans suggests that many Tesla buyers will also become long-term subscribers - who are willing to pay higher prices for them.
la / dpa