Elon Musk says Tesla (TSLA) could soon be worth more than Apple (AAPL)

Elon Musk says Tesla (TSLA) could soon be worth more than Apple (AAPL), and the company is putting its money behind this position with a $5 to $10 billion share buyback.

Today, Tesla released its Q3 2022 financial results. The automaker delivered a small miss on revenue-based on expectations, but it beat earnings expectations.

Tesla has been having a hard time on the stock market over the last few months, and the Q3 results didn’t help.

After the release of the results, Tesla held a conference call with analysts during which CEO Elon Musk took the microphone in a clear attempt to calm investors. The CEO started out by announcing that Tesla’s board has discussed a share buyback program, and it is in agreement that it would make sense to proceed with a $5 to $10 billion share buyback.

A share buyback program consists of a company buying its own shares at the market price. It’s generally a sign that the company believes its stock is undervalued and is a way to boost the stock price.

Musk did say that the plan hasn’t been finalized, but it looks like Tesla is going to be moving forward with a share buyback program soon.

After announcing the buyback program, the CEO commented on Tesla’s valuation:

A while ago, I said on an earnings call that I thought it was possible for Tesla to be worth more than Apple, which was worth about $700 billion at the time.

Tesla is now worth about $700 billion based on its market capitalization.

Now Musk has a new goal for Tesla’s valuation:

Now I’m of the opinion that we can far exceed Apple’s current market cap. I see a path for Tesla to be worth more than Apple and Saudi Aramco combined.

Apple is now worth $2.3 trillion, and Saudi Aramco is worth about $2 trillion.

The CEO also emphasized that even in a bad recession, Tesla could still generate “meaningful cash” next year. Hence his belief that it would make sense to initiate a share buyback program.

Musk doesn’t include Tesla Optimus, the company’s planned humanoid robot, in his equation, and says that it would take a lot of work, great execution, and some luck to achieve Apple and Aramco’s valuation.

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