One of the most anticipated vehicle launches of all time happened on Nov. 30, 2023 with Tesla Inc TSLA delivering its first Cybertruck vehicles to a long waiting list of reservation holders of the highly anticipated electric pickup truck.
Here’s a look back at the company’s unveiling of the truck and how much investors could have made timing their stock purchase.
What Happened: Tesla recently shared a look back at what the company accomplished in its first year with the Cybertruck on the market.
“1 year since we launched the truck that โthey’d never actually make,'” Tesla tweeted.
Tesla shared that since the launch, the Cybertruck has had multiple highlights, including achieving a positive gross margin in less than a year and starting deliveries in Canada.
Other highlights shared in the X thread are the Cybertruck driving and parking itself, having Powershare, testing the bulletproof abilities, beating a Porsche 911 while towing a 911 and winning over diesel truck owners.
The Nov. 30, 2023 delivery event was a long time coming for Tesla and fans of the company.
Tesla CEOย Elon Muskย unveiledย the Cybertruck at a public event on Nov. 22, 2019.
Originally set for a 2021 launch, the vehicle suffered several delays and setbacks before its eventual 2023 launch. The film โBlade Runnerโ andย the James Bond vehicle fromย โThe Spy Who Loved Meโ inspired the design.
The vehicleโs unique design and fans of Tesla and Musk have led to strong demand. A week after the unveiling, Teslaย reported 250,000 reservations,ย via a $100 deposit. In recent comments, Tesla has said there are over one million reservations for the vehicle. Third-party estimates put the estimate closer to two million units reserved.
With the Cybertruck, Tesla added another vehicle class to compete withย Ford Motor Companyย F,ย General Motors Companyย GM and Rivian Automotive RIVN.
In the U.S., trucksย remain top sellers. In 2022, five of the top 10 bestselling vehicles were pickup trucks, including the top three vehicles.
Pop culture references, like when the vehicle appearedย on an episodeย of โThe Simpsons,โ sparked interest. Podcast host Joe Rogan has alsoย discussed the vehicleย and praised its unique design during several of his interviews.
Tesla has estimated it will sell 250,000 Cybertruck units annually by 2025. Musk has tried to downplay early expectations for the highly anticipated vehicleโs deliveries.
โI always try to downplay the start of production because the start of production is always very slow. It increases exponentially, but itโs always very slow at first. So I wouldnโt put too much thought into the start of production. Itโs kind of when volume production happens, and thatโs next year,โ Muskย said during an earnings call.
Investors and analysts see the Cybertruck as a big catalyst, which could mean more upside for Tesla shares. If you purchased shares when the Cybertruck was first unveiled, you have already been rewarded.
Are you buying when the CEOs of the Magnificent 7 are selling?
Investing $1,000 in Tesla Stock:ย A $1,000 investment could have purchased 2.94 shares of TSLA at the opening print on Nov. 22, 2019.
Tesla underwent stock splits of five-for-one in 2020 and three-for-one in 2022. The splits would take the 2.94 shares to 44.1 total Tesla shares.
The $1,000 investment would be worth $15,747.67 today, based on a Tesla price of $357.09 at the time of writing. It would be up 1,474.8% over the last five years.
The same $1,000 invested in theย SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trustย SPY, which tracks the top 500 U.S. stocks, wouldnโt have fared as well. The $1,000 investment in the SPY would be worth $1,937.65 today. This represents a return of 93.8% over the last five years, significantly trailing the performance of Tesla over the same period.
Investors who passed up the opportunity to buy Tesla stock when the Cybertruck was first unveiled may have considered buying the stock last November when deliveries took place. An investor could have bought 4.08 Tesla shares with $1,000 based on a price of $245.22 on Nov. 30, 2023.
The $1,000 investment would be worth $1,456.93 today, up 45.7%.
The same $1,000 invested in the SPY on Nov. 30, 2023, would be worth $1,321.95 today, up 32.2%.
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This article was previously published by Benzinga and has been updated.
Image created using artificial intelligence via Midjourney.
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