Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) is one again flirting with $200 a share. Shares have risen more than 4% today and are hovering around the automaker’s previous high, although they touched a new high of $196 a share.
Tesla’s market cap almost half of GM’s
As ZeroHedge noted on its Twitter page, Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) now has a market capitalization of nearly half that of General Motors Inc (NYSE:GM). As of this writing, Tesla’s market cap is just shy of 24 billion, while GM’s market cap is $55 billion.
So will the automaker pass $200 a share? We’ve seen before that it seems to be an emotional level for investors, but this time around, it doesn’t have the overhang of three Model S fires to deal with.
Tesla options are hot
Shaeffer’s Research reports that options players are betting on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA) passing the $200 a share by the end of the week. The firm noted about 40,000 calls crossing the tape already, which represents a 55% mark-up to Tesla’s average intra-day volume. It said the most active call is the weekly 2/14 200-strike.
Over 3,700 contracts for it have traded already, mostly at the asking price. In addition, the firm said volume has surpassed open interest at the strike and that implied volatility on it has risen 17 percentage points, suggesting that investors have suddenly become ultra-bullish on the automaker. In fact, investors are so bullish that they’re paying quite a bit for short-term options on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA). According to Shaeffer’s the stock’s 30-day-at-the-money implied volatility is up 5% today to 74.8%, which is the highest level it has been at since October.
So why have investors suddenly become even more bullish on Tesla Motors Inc (NASDAQ:TSLA)? It might be in part due to a report from Seeking Alpha which suggests that its stock could hit $500 a share. The writer suggests that analysts might be underestimating the automaker’s revenue and earnings and also that demand will increase in the wake of Tesla’s team successfully completing their coast-to-coast drive in record time in an electric vehicle.
