Looking back at my posts and indeed used the word profit, sorry I meant revenue/sales. P/E will take years…and this is a new industry so comparing it the old is like comparing sears and JCPenney to the online retail of today.
Toyota Prius is a boring nerdy car, the thrill of driving a Tesla is what these companies can’t produce, it’s a culture
Toyota isn't selling just the Prius. They're selling hybrid versions of just about every car they sell. Yes, they aren't thrilling sports cars for the most part, but they're the most reliable and best selling vehicles in America for decades. Unseating that when the value preposition is hard to compete with is quite a challenge.
Tesla, honestly, has exceeded my wildest dreams in terms of the amount of vehicles that they've successfully delivered, and the insatiable demand they continue to generate (whether or not they've been operating in the red if not for carbon credit sales). I still think that justifying the PE will be an absolutely Herculean feat, but it is a dangerous company to bet against.
It is hard to argue with the fact that Musk is a bit of a cult leader. Nothing wrong with that. There were times that Tesla would be considered a worthless company without him. I don't think that's true anymore. Tesla is a real company by now, overvalued or not, and a serious force to be reckoned with. (People have actually said the same about Jobs and Apple, and the actual results were just the opposite.)