> But it sounds like the bulk of your confusion comes from a significant misunderstanding of what the stock market _is_.
I think OP would not be the confused one in 6 months time.
Stock market only cares about the future when people care about the future. AKA when there is optimism in the air.
The 2015-2022 wave of optimism was quite frankly uncalled for and overextended given the reality at the base level. Especially what happened 2020-2022.
> I think OP would not be the confused one in 6 months time
Apologies, but this doesn't make any sense. The OP referred to the current size of Tesla ("mid-size car company"), with no reference to future cash flows, which is what the majority of most stock prices are made up of.
Looking at where tesla will be in six months _is_ looking at the future, which is the exact opposite of what I was remarking on. If the complaint had been "Tesla is overvalued due to irratuonal exuberance that its future revenues are unlikely to deliver on", I wouldn't really have any disagreement.
I think OP would not be the confused one in 6 months time.
Stock market only cares about the future when people care about the future. AKA when there is optimism in the air.
The 2015-2022 wave of optimism was quite frankly uncalled for and overextended given the reality at the base level. Especially what happened 2020-2022.