Is Tesla the Meme Stock of Yesteryear?

For years, Tesla stock charged ever-higher despite weak operating results. So far in 2021, that pattern has reversed itself.

Second-quarter results from Elon Musk’s auto maker were the company’s strongest on record. Tesla booked US$11.9 billion in sales and earned $1.1 billion in quarterly profit according to generally accepted accounting principles. Both figures topped analyst expectations. And while Tesla sold $354 million of regulatory credits to rivals, the auto maker would have easily finished the quarter in the black without them. Results were flattered by Tesla receiving certain goods and services from suppliers for which it hadn’t yet been charged, but Mr. Musk still deserves credit for that strong performance.

Tesla managed to deliver more than 200,000 cars in the quarter despite the global semiconductor shortage. And the falling price of bitcoin, which the auto maker carries on its balance sheet for some reason, only resulted in a $23 million hit to the bottom line.

But while Tesla’s actual business has lately come of age, the stock isn’t playing along. It was slightly higher on Tuesday morning, had dropped 9% so far this year and is down by more than a fifth over the past six months, lagging bigger rivals like Ford and General Motors. Meme stock aficionados, who couldn’t get enough of Tesla until recently, seem to have moved on to cryptocurrencies, brick-and-mortar video-game retailers and movie-theatre chains.

One reason: Tesla’s excellent results underscore how disconnected its valuation is from business reality. Tesla has earned $1.41 a share so far this year. If the auto maker continues to shine in 2021, it might earn $4 a share on a GAAP basis. At the current stock price, the company is valued at more than 150 times that still-hypothetical earnings figure—orders of magnitude higher than any comparable rival.

And the news wasn’t entirely positive on Monday: Tesla said its semitrailer truck, which Mr. Musk first showed to the public in 2017, wouldn’t begin production until next year. Given Tesla’s decade-long track record of overpromising on timelines, investors shouldn’t be expecting even this new guidance to hold up.

Meanwhile, rivals such as Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen are developing electric offerings of their own. And startups, including Lucid Motors, give investors more options to speculate on an electrified future.

Tesla seems to have put its most turbulent days behind it. That doesn’t preclude a bumpy ride for its shareholders in the future.

President-elect Donald Trump named a Silicon Valley investor close to Elon Musk as the White House’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency policy chief, signaling the growing influence of tech leaders and loyalists in the new administration .

David Sacks , a former PayPal executive, will serve as the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar,” Trump said on his social-media platform Truth Social.

“In this important role, David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness,” he posted.

Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance chimed in with congratulatory messages on X.

Sacks was one of the first vocal supporters of Trump in Silicon Valley, a region that typically leans Democratic. He hosted a fundraiser for Trump in San Francisco in June that raised more than $12 million for Trump’s campaign. Sacks often used his “All-In” podcast to broadcast his support for the Republican’s cause.

The fundraiser drew several cryptocurrency executives and tech investors. Some attendees were concerned that America could lose its competitiveness in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence because of overregulation.

Many tech leaders had hoped the next president would have a friendlier stance on cryptocurrencies, which had come under scrutiny during the Biden administration.

“What the crypto industry has been asking for more than anything else is a clear legal framework to operate under. If Trump wins, the industry will get this, and more innovation will happen in the U.S.,” Sacks posted on X in July.

The tech industry has also pressed for friendlier federal policies around AI and successfully lobbied to quash a California AI bill industry leaders said would kill innovation.

Sacks’ venture-capital firm, Craft Ventures, has invested in crypto and AI startups. Sacks himself has led investment rounds in many. He has previously invested in companies such as Slack, SpaceX, Uber and Facebook.

Sacks was the former chief operating officer of PayPal, whose founders included Musk and Peter Thiel . The group, called the “PayPal mafia,” has been front and center this election because of its financial muscle and influence in drumming up support for Trump.

Is Tesla the Meme Stock of Yesteryear?

Just as Elon Musk’s firm begins to look fundamentally more solid, investors have moved on to other speculative objects.

Tech investor was one of the most outspoken supporters of Trump in Silicon Valley