Is Tesla Stock Your Ticket to Becoming a Millionaire?
Key Points
Tesla posted double-digit year-over-year automotive revenue growth in Q1, but the sales figure is below the total from three years before.
The company’s future is highly uncertain, as success relating to autonomous driving and humanoid robots isn’t guaranteed.
At Tesla's price-to-earnings ratio exceeding 400, investors have to deal with the steep valuation.
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Looking in the rearview mirror, it's impossible not to be impressed by Tesla's (NASDAQ: TSLA) meteoric rise. The company's shares have skyrocketed 22,250% over the last 15 years (as of May 27). Bringing electric vehicles (EVs) mainstream while working on exciting new technologies resulted in monster gains.
If investors purchased $4,500 of Tesla shares in late May 2011, they'd have $1 million today. What matters more, though, is what the future will bring.
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Is this EV stock your ticket to becoming a millionaire?
Image source: The Motley Fool.
Investors don't have much to be excited about right now
Tesla has definitely been a winning stock. But the company is not exactly operating at its best these days.
The business posted a 16% year-over-year gain in automotive revenue during the first quarter (ended March 31). The $16.2 billion figure was 19% below the total from the same period of 2023, though.
EV deliveries were up 6% in Q1 compared to the first quarter of 2025. However, Tesla might have produced too many cars, as its inventory rose 23% year over year.
Blame it on higher interest rates that increase the cost to buy a new EV. Or call out intense competition in the industry from domestic and foreign manufacturers. It's clear that Tesla's success has been harder to come by.
A lot of things need to fall into place
Founder and CEO Elon Musk is betting on a different future that drifts away from pure EV sales. Tesla's focus is on artificial intelligence, autonomous driving technology, and its Optimus humanoid robots. But a lot still needs to be proven as it relates to scaling up manufacturing, developing software capabilities, dealing with regulatory burdens, and being adopted by customers.
And it won't be cheap to pursue this dream. Tesla's capital expenditures are expected to exceed $25 billion this year. This number is up dramatically from $8.5 billionin 2025.
Even if you assume that Tesla will make good on its promises and eventually become a financially lucrative enterprise dominating the global market for autonomous driving and humanoid robots, there is another hurdle to deal with.
I'm talking about the stock's current valuation, which implies lofty expectations. Tesla shares trade at a price-to-earnings ratio of 402, suggesting that the market cares more about the company's potential than today's reality. This is a key reason most investors should avoid the stock.
In my view, Tesla isn't a millionaire-maker opportunity. There is extreme uncertainty as to what the business will look like a decade from now. Risk-seeking market participants who are buying into Musk's grand vision, though, might not care to be cautious.
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*Stock Advisor returns as of May 31, 2026.
Neil Patel has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
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