推動特斯拉公司(Tesla)股價不斷高漲的投資者理念,體現(xiàn)了一種肆無忌憚的心態(tài)。在其推動下,標普500(S&P 500)進入了一種不可持續(xù)且必將很快破滅的投機狂熱狀態(tài),包括杰里米?格蘭瑟姆以及Research Affiliates的諸多專家在內的行業(yè)人士都是這樣認為的。
自2020年夏初以來,特斯拉與整體標普一樣一直處于過熱的狀態(tài),形成了超級夸張的規(guī)模。在眾多市場專家的眼中,特斯拉如今成為了瘋狂股市的代言人。
在今年1月5日發(fā)表的一篇文章中,有著傳奇色彩的投資者格蘭瑟姆稱,標普500最近進入了泡沫領域,而且其先行指標便是特斯拉股價如同“瘋牛”般的爆炸式增長。
格蘭瑟姆警告說:“在這次牛市的首個十年,我們一直缺少這類瘋狂的投機現(xiàn)象,而如今有了?!彼€指出,“尤其是特斯拉”,它集中體現(xiàn)了市場的瘋狂程度。
八十多歲的格蘭瑟姆是資產(chǎn)管理巨頭GMO的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人及長期投資策略師。他表示,當股價在穩(wěn)步升至其至高點,然后突然打破這種漸進模式,像坐火箭一樣進入飆升狀態(tài)時,人們都知道這是一種瘋狂的表現(xiàn)。
他寫道:“泡沫晚期正好就是這樣的:加速、接近垂直的上升軌跡,持續(xù)時長不詳,但通常較短。”對格蘭瑟姆來說,當市場從一個新高到另一個新高所用的時間越來越短時,泡沫的破滅即將來臨。
最耀眼的例子莫過于特斯拉。就市值而言,沒有企業(yè)在股市歷史上經(jīng)歷過如此之巨大的飛躍,因為這家電動汽車制造商于去年夏天開始其飛速發(fā)展的旅程時,其每一次躍升的幅度都遠高于上一次,而且間隔如此之短。
截至今年1月初,特斯拉的飆升讓創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官埃隆?馬斯克成為了全球首富,其凈財富值達到了1950億美元,比上一任首富亞馬遜(Amazon)的首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?貝佐斯還多90億美元。
有關特斯拉的警報由此而拉響:其股價缺乏基本面支撐,尤其是沒有合理的估算能夠說明其今后的銷售和盈利增速可以達到多快,而這通常是影響股價的最根本指標。
在最近的一篇文章中,Research Affiliates的羅伯?阿諾特、維塔利?凱樂斯尼克和莉莉安?吳認為,特斯拉股價進入泡沫期的兩個重要指標在于:首先,“人們無法為其估值找到合理的解釋”;第二,“買家的興趣基于預測該公司在未來會大獲成功的動人說辭和故事”,但忽略了有關特斯拉如何實現(xiàn)這一點的預測細節(jié),包括特斯拉在全球汽車行業(yè)增長緩慢的環(huán)境下為匹配這一估值所需占據(jù)的巨大市場份額。
讓我們先來看看格蘭瑟姆發(fā)出的這個警告:如果已然處于高點的股價再次出現(xiàn)大幅上揚,那么這將是牛市垂死掙扎的前兆。
特斯拉股價的軌跡再一次反映了大市值公司的現(xiàn)狀,只是規(guī)模更加夸張了些。自進入2020年以來,特斯拉股價在2月中旬翻了一番,達到了創(chuàng)紀錄的180美元,但在3月殘酷的拋售中又跌回100美元以下。當時,標普計劃將這家電動汽車制造商列入該指數(shù)的傳言甚囂塵上。
事實證明,加入標普俱樂部的過程對推高特斯拉的股價起了重要作用。
躋身標普500行列極大地提振了這家新成員的股價,此次上漲分為兩個階段,均發(fā)生在其正式加入標普500之前。第一次上漲發(fā)生在市場傳言“某公司”將被列入標普的時期。第二次上漲的幅度更大,發(fā)生在標普宣布將其納入該公司并給出具體的納入日期之時。
在研究中,Research Affiliates注意到,對沖基金經(jīng)理和其他流動性提供商會在該公司正式加入標普前囤積其股票,第一次是在傳言期,然后在標普官宣后會加速囤積。這些中間商隨后會將其持有的該公司股票庫存賣給與標普掛鉤的對沖基金、交易所交易基金(ETF)和投資工具(這些機構有義務出售被標普除名公司的股票,然后按照該公司在指數(shù)中的權重購入相應數(shù)量的股票)。
就特斯拉而言,成為標普會員前的購買潮可謂是空前的,因為按照市值來看,這家電動汽車到目前為止是加入標普最大的新競爭者。Research Affiliates估計,與該指數(shù)掛鉤的資產(chǎn)達到了11萬億美元。
從去年3月中旬傳言流出,到11月16日標普對華爾街官宣,特斯拉的股價從90美元飆升至408美元,增幅達到了350%,使其市值增加了3000億美元,達到了3900億美元。
然后,在標普于感恩節(jié)前發(fā)布聲明后,按照總市值這個最為重要的指標計算,特斯拉迎來了更為猛烈的第二輪上漲。從聲明發(fā)布到12月21日正式納入標普的9周時間里,公司股價大漲59%,達到了659美元。然后于1月8日,再次暴增至880美元。
總的來看,從去年11月16日的新聞發(fā)布到今年1月8日,特斯拉的股價增長了一倍多,其市值增幅達到了4460億美元,甚至超過了傳言期。
Research Affiliates認為,當特斯拉在去年12月21日將一些市值小得多的企業(yè)擠出標普時,指數(shù)基金、交易所交易基金和其他跟蹤器購買了2200億美元的特斯拉股票來重新平衡其倉位,而這些股票大多購于長期建倉的對沖基金。所有這些增持行為必然會推高其股價。
但是,其他公司在加入標普前所獲得的收益與特斯拉相比能有多大的差距?
Research Affiliates估計,在官宣日和正式加入標普指數(shù)日期之間,新加入成員的股價平均高出標普均價10個百分點。從去年11月16日至12月12日,指數(shù)本身僅上漲了1.9%,而特斯拉狂漲59%,超出標普57個百分點,幾乎是均值的6倍。
在特斯拉加入標普三周的時間中,其股價再次上漲了34%。從去年3月傳言開始到11月中旬官宣,特斯拉市值上漲了3000億美元,然后在不到8周的時間內再次大漲近4500億美元,讓格蘭瑟姆這類專業(yè)人士大呼看不懂。
標普500泡沫?
事實上,特斯拉從一個巔峰向另一個巔峰的快速跳躍亦印證了標普最近的發(fā)展軌跡。
在夏季大漲將指數(shù)推至歷史新高之后,標普在去年11月特斯拉狂漲期間再次飆升,從當月初的3300點升至今年1月8日的3804點,在9周之內上漲了15%。納斯達克更是風光,漲幅達20%。
特斯拉第二個泡沫警告在于,要拿出相應的業(yè)績來滿足當前股東期許:在未來幾年獲得大量的回報。如果馬斯克希望投資者繼續(xù)忠于連他自己都認為存在風險的股票,那么特斯拉就必須完成這個任務。
特斯拉只不過是市場的一個縮影罷了。標普500目前已經(jīng)是如此之昂貴,以至于其必須異常迅速地(如果能夠實現(xiàn)的話)提升其未來的利潤,才可以給投資者帶來回報。
正如Research Affiliates作者所說的那樣:“我們在確認泡沫定義的第一部分提到,如果使用現(xiàn)金流折現(xiàn)法或其他估值模型,我們需要用近似荒謬的假設才能夠解釋市場或資產(chǎn)當前的價格。”
我們不妨假設,當前和未來投資者希望通過搭乘特斯拉這只火箭股獲得至少10%的年回報率。由于特斯拉并不派息,那么它將需要通過其股價上漲來提供所有這些回報。
因此在短短7年后,也就是2028年初,其股價則需要再翻一番,達到1760美元,屆時其市值將達到1.672萬億美元。市值實現(xiàn)起來倒不是很難,因為特斯拉非常有可能像過去一樣,通過發(fā)行更多的股票來資助未來的增長。
讓我們進一步假設,到2028年,特斯拉的市盈率達到約30左右。這個數(shù)字并不小,意味著投資者預期公司在未來會有更大的增長。如果這一切成為現(xiàn)實,特斯拉在2028年初每年基于通用會計準則(GAAP)的收入將達到557億美元(相當于蘋果公司當前的營收),然后自那之后迅猛增長。
那么,這段旅程將可能讓特斯拉在7年內,從一家在截至10月的四個季度實現(xiàn)5.56億美元凈收入(如果不是銷售13億美元的碳積分的話仍然處于虧損狀態(tài))的企業(yè),成為美國盈利能力排名前五位的公司。
我傾向于一個有根據(jù)的推測:標普500最賺錢的企業(yè)在同一時期的利潤增幅應該相當于GDP增速加通脹,也就是約3.7%(2%經(jīng)濟增長+1.7%的CPI)。
按照這個邏輯,去年的冠軍蘋果公司(伯克希爾-哈撒韋除外,它是因為會計方法變化才躍居領先的位置)的利潤將達到720億美元,排名第二的微軟(Microsoft)為510億美元,排名第三的摩根大通(JPMorgan)470億美元。
如果按照這個局面來看,特斯拉會成為美國盈利能力排名第二位的公司,超出微軟40億美元,超過摩根大通80億美元。
然而,這件事不僅不會發(fā)生,而且連邊都沾不上,至少從數(shù)字來看是這樣的。
慈善家格蘭瑟姆將大部分財富捐獻給了應對氣候變化事業(yè),喜歡引用自己最喜愛的特斯拉衡量指標。他寫道:“作為一名自豪的Model 3車主,我個人最喜歡的趣聞是其市值,如今已經(jīng)超過了6000億美元,相當于每年其所售每臺車輛的均價超過了125萬美元,而通用汽車(GM)每臺車的均價只有9000美元?!?/p>
最近的大漲(格蘭瑟姆曾經(jīng)警告其是泡沫晚期的瘋狂)讓每臺車的均價升至駭人聳聽的170萬美元。
標普將面臨其自身的特斯拉式估價過高問題。
截至今年1月8日,該指數(shù)接近標普指數(shù)歷史峰值的28倍:2019年年底公布的,前12個月基于通用會計準則的標普500指數(shù)成分股公司,每股收益為139美元。這個數(shù)字要么意味著大多數(shù)大市值股票未來的回報都將相當之低,要么意味著價格將暴跌,這樣華爾街便真的可以兌現(xiàn)自己的承諾——在當前溢價水平下無法獲得的未來高額回報。
就像格蘭瑟姆指出的那樣,關于這次的股市狂熱現(xiàn)象,一個不正常而且通常令人不安的問題在于,大多數(shù)泡沫都發(fā)生在經(jīng)濟蓬勃發(fā)展時期,但這次的泡沫卻在受新冠疫情嚴重沖擊的經(jīng)濟困境中孕育而生。
正如Research Affiliates的專家所說的那樣,特斯拉的擁躉打算回避這些數(shù)字,并用股市氛圍、奇跡以及個人崇拜來說事。這一點與狂熱分子的說辭如出一轍:極度興奮的股市長著能夠跑得越來越快的腿。
買空者認為,特斯拉是一家剛剛嶄露頭角的科技巨頭,它可以“選擇”去征服各類高利潤行業(yè)。他們還認為,看空馬斯克的做法毀掉了很多賣空者,而且最重要的是,長期以來,特斯拉超乎尋常的發(fā)展態(tài)勢已經(jīng)超越了這些數(shù)字,以至于它自身已經(jīng)成為一種規(guī)律。
對于這個用傳統(tǒng)標準來衡量已經(jīng)異常昂貴的整體股市,他們亦給出了同樣的理由???伊卡恩在格蘭瑟姆發(fā)布其警告的前一天說:“這些股價瘋狂攀升的情況背后還有一個共同之處:人們總說‘這一次不一樣’,但結果總是事與愿違?!?/p>
這一至理名言也適用于美國的大市值企業(yè),特斯拉股價的這種離譜現(xiàn)象正是其弱點的真實寫照。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
推動特斯拉公司(Tesla)股價不斷高漲的投資者理念,體現(xiàn)了一種肆無忌憚的心態(tài)。在其推動下,標普500(S&P 500)進入了一種不可持續(xù)且必將很快破滅的投機狂熱狀態(tài),包括杰里米?格蘭瑟姆以及Research Affiliates的諸多專家在內的行業(yè)人士都是這樣認為的。
自2020年夏初以來,特斯拉與整體標普一樣一直處于過熱的狀態(tài),形成了超級夸張的規(guī)模。在眾多市場專家的眼中,特斯拉如今成為了瘋狂股市的代言人。
在今年1月5日發(fā)表的一篇文章中,有著傳奇色彩的投資者格蘭瑟姆稱,標普500最近進入了泡沫領域,而且其先行指標便是特斯拉股價如同“瘋牛”般的爆炸式增長。
格蘭瑟姆警告說:“在這次牛市的首個十年,我們一直缺少這類瘋狂的投機現(xiàn)象,而如今有了?!彼€指出,“尤其是特斯拉”,它集中體現(xiàn)了市場的瘋狂程度。
八十多歲的格蘭瑟姆是資產(chǎn)管理巨頭GMO的聯(lián)合創(chuàng)始人及長期投資策略師。他表示,當股價在穩(wěn)步升至其至高點,然后突然打破這種漸進模式,像坐火箭一樣進入飆升狀態(tài)時,人們都知道這是一種瘋狂的表現(xiàn)。
他寫道:“泡沫晚期正好就是這樣的:加速、接近垂直的上升軌跡,持續(xù)時長不詳,但通常較短。”對格蘭瑟姆來說,當市場從一個新高到另一個新高所用的時間越來越短時,泡沫的破滅即將來臨。
最耀眼的例子莫過于特斯拉。就市值而言,沒有企業(yè)在股市歷史上經(jīng)歷過如此之巨大的飛躍,因為這家電動汽車制造商于去年夏天開始其飛速發(fā)展的旅程時,其每一次躍升的幅度都遠高于上一次,而且間隔如此之短。
截至今年1月初,特斯拉的飆升讓創(chuàng)始人及首席執(zhí)行官埃隆?馬斯克成為了全球首富,其凈財富值達到了1950億美元,比上一任首富亞馬遜(Amazon)的首席執(zhí)行官杰夫?貝佐斯還多90億美元。
有關特斯拉的警報由此而拉響:其股價缺乏基本面支撐,尤其是沒有合理的估算能夠說明其今后的銷售和盈利增速可以達到多快,而這通常是影響股價的最根本指標。
在最近的一篇文章中,Research Affiliates的羅伯?阿諾特、維塔利?凱樂斯尼克和莉莉安?吳認為,特斯拉股價進入泡沫期的兩個重要指標在于:首先,“人們無法為其估值找到合理的解釋”;第二,“買家的興趣基于預測該公司在未來會大獲成功的動人說辭和故事”,但忽略了有關特斯拉如何實現(xiàn)這一點的預測細節(jié),包括特斯拉在全球汽車行業(yè)增長緩慢的環(huán)境下為匹配這一估值所需占據(jù)的巨大市場份額。
讓我們先來看看格蘭瑟姆發(fā)出的這個警告:如果已然處于高點的股價再次出現(xiàn)大幅上揚,那么這將是牛市垂死掙扎的前兆。
特斯拉股價的軌跡再一次反映了大市值公司的現(xiàn)狀,只是規(guī)模更加夸張了些。自進入2020年以來,特斯拉股價在2月中旬翻了一番,達到了創(chuàng)紀錄的180美元,但在3月殘酷的拋售中又跌回100美元以下。當時,標普計劃將這家電動汽車制造商列入該指數(shù)的傳言甚囂塵上。
事實證明,加入標普俱樂部的過程對推高特斯拉的股價起了重要作用。
躋身標普500行列極大地提振了這家新成員的股價,此次上漲分為兩個階段,均發(fā)生在其正式加入標普500之前。第一次上漲發(fā)生在市場傳言“某公司”將被列入標普的時期。第二次上漲的幅度更大,發(fā)生在標普宣布將其納入該公司并給出具體的納入日期之時。
在研究中,Research Affiliates注意到,對沖基金經(jīng)理和其他流動性提供商會在該公司正式加入標普前囤積其股票,第一次是在傳言期,然后在標普官宣后會加速囤積。這些中間商隨后會將其持有的該公司股票庫存賣給與標普掛鉤的對沖基金、交易所交易基金(ETF)和投資工具(這些機構有義務出售被標普除名公司的股票,然后按照該公司在指數(shù)中的權重購入相應數(shù)量的股票)。
就特斯拉而言,成為標普會員前的購買潮可謂是空前的,因為按照市值來看,這家電動汽車到目前為止是加入標普最大的新競爭者。Research Affiliates估計,與該指數(shù)掛鉤的資產(chǎn)達到了11萬億美元。
從去年3月中旬傳言流出,到11月16日標普對華爾街官宣,特斯拉的股價從90美元飆升至408美元,增幅達到了350%,使其市值增加了3000億美元,達到了3900億美元。
然后,在標普于感恩節(jié)前發(fā)布聲明后,按照總市值這個最為重要的指標計算,特斯拉迎來了更為猛烈的第二輪上漲。從聲明發(fā)布到12月21日正式納入標普的9周時間里,公司股價大漲59%,達到了659美元。然后于1月8日,再次暴增至880美元。
總的來看,從去年11月16日的新聞發(fā)布到今年1月8日,特斯拉的股價增長了一倍多,其市值增幅達到了4460億美元,甚至超過了傳言期。
Research Affiliates認為,當特斯拉在去年12月21日將一些市值小得多的企業(yè)擠出標普時,指數(shù)基金、交易所交易基金和其他跟蹤器購買了2200億美元的特斯拉股票來重新平衡其倉位,而這些股票大多購于長期建倉的對沖基金。所有這些增持行為必然會推高其股價。
但是,其他公司在加入標普前所獲得的收益與特斯拉相比能有多大的差距?
Research Affiliates估計,在官宣日和正式加入標普指數(shù)日期之間,新加入成員的股價平均高出標普均價10個百分點。從去年11月16日至12月12日,指數(shù)本身僅上漲了1.9%,而特斯拉狂漲59%,超出標普57個百分點,幾乎是均值的6倍。
在特斯拉加入標普三周的時間中,其股價再次上漲了34%。從去年3月傳言開始到11月中旬官宣,特斯拉市值上漲了3000億美元,然后在不到8周的時間內再次大漲近4500億美元,讓格蘭瑟姆這類專業(yè)人士大呼看不懂。
標普500泡沫?
事實上,特斯拉從一個巔峰向另一個巔峰的快速跳躍亦印證了標普最近的發(fā)展軌跡。
在夏季大漲將指數(shù)推至歷史新高之后,標普在去年11月特斯拉狂漲期間再次飆升,從當月初的3300點升至今年1月8日的3804點,在9周之內上漲了15%。納斯達克更是風光,漲幅達20%。
特斯拉第二個泡沫警告在于,要拿出相應的業(yè)績來滿足當前股東期許:在未來幾年獲得大量的回報。如果馬斯克希望投資者繼續(xù)忠于連他自己都認為存在風險的股票,那么特斯拉就必須完成這個任務。
特斯拉只不過是市場的一個縮影罷了。標普500目前已經(jīng)是如此之昂貴,以至于其必須異常迅速地(如果能夠實現(xiàn)的話)提升其未來的利潤,才可以給投資者帶來回報。
正如Research Affiliates作者所說的那樣:“我們在確認泡沫定義的第一部分提到,如果使用現(xiàn)金流折現(xiàn)法或其他估值模型,我們需要用近似荒謬的假設才能夠解釋市場或資產(chǎn)當前的價格。”
我們不妨假設,當前和未來投資者希望通過搭乘特斯拉這只火箭股獲得至少10%的年回報率。由于特斯拉并不派息,那么它將需要通過其股價上漲來提供所有這些回報。
因此在短短7年后,也就是2028年初,其股價則需要再翻一番,達到1760美元,屆時其市值將達到1.672萬億美元。市值實現(xiàn)起來倒不是很難,因為特斯拉非常有可能像過去一樣,通過發(fā)行更多的股票來資助未來的增長。
讓我們進一步假設,到2028年,特斯拉的市盈率達到約30左右。這個數(shù)字并不小,意味著投資者預期公司在未來會有更大的增長。如果這一切成為現(xiàn)實,特斯拉在2028年初每年基于通用會計準則(GAAP)的收入將達到557億美元(相當于蘋果公司當前的營收),然后自那之后迅猛增長。
那么,這段旅程將可能讓特斯拉在7年內,從一家在截至10月的四個季度實現(xiàn)5.56億美元凈收入(如果不是銷售13億美元的碳積分的話仍然處于虧損狀態(tài))的企業(yè),成為美國盈利能力排名前五位的公司。
我傾向于一個有根據(jù)的推測:標普500最賺錢的企業(yè)在同一時期的利潤增幅應該相當于GDP增速加通脹,也就是約3.7%(2%經(jīng)濟增長+1.7%的CPI)。
按照這個邏輯,去年的冠軍蘋果公司(伯克希爾-哈撒韋除外,它是因為會計方法變化才躍居領先的位置)的利潤將達到720億美元,排名第二的微軟(Microsoft)為510億美元,排名第三的摩根大通(JPMorgan)470億美元。
如果按照這個局面來看,特斯拉會成為美國盈利能力排名第二位的公司,超出微軟40億美元,超過摩根大通80億美元。
然而,這件事不僅不會發(fā)生,而且連邊都沾不上,至少從數(shù)字來看是這樣的。
慈善家格蘭瑟姆將大部分財富捐獻給了應對氣候變化事業(yè),喜歡引用自己最喜愛的特斯拉衡量指標。他寫道:“作為一名自豪的Model 3車主,我個人最喜歡的趣聞是其市值,如今已經(jīng)超過了6000億美元,相當于每年其所售每臺車輛的均價超過了125萬美元,而通用汽車(GM)每臺車的均價只有9000美元?!?/p>
最近的大漲(格蘭瑟姆曾經(jīng)警告其是泡沫晚期的瘋狂)讓每臺車的均價升至駭人聳聽的170萬美元。
標普將面臨其自身的特斯拉式估價過高問題。
截至今年1月8日,該指數(shù)接近標普指數(shù)歷史峰值的28倍:2019年年底公布的,前12個月基于通用會計準則的標普500指數(shù)成分股公司,每股收益為139美元。這個數(shù)字要么意味著大多數(shù)大市值股票未來的回報都將相當之低,要么意味著價格將暴跌,這樣華爾街便真的可以兌現(xiàn)自己的承諾——在當前溢價水平下無法獲得的未來高額回報。
就像格蘭瑟姆指出的那樣,關于這次的股市狂熱現(xiàn)象,一個不正常而且通常令人不安的問題在于,大多數(shù)泡沫都發(fā)生在經(jīng)濟蓬勃發(fā)展時期,但這次的泡沫卻在受新冠疫情嚴重沖擊的經(jīng)濟困境中孕育而生。
正如Research Affiliates的專家所說的那樣,特斯拉的擁躉打算回避這些數(shù)字,并用股市氛圍、奇跡以及個人崇拜來說事。這一點與狂熱分子的說辭如出一轍:極度興奮的股市長著能夠跑得越來越快的腿。
買空者認為,特斯拉是一家剛剛嶄露頭角的科技巨頭,它可以“選擇”去征服各類高利潤行業(yè)。他們還認為,看空馬斯克的做法毀掉了很多賣空者,而且最重要的是,長期以來,特斯拉超乎尋常的發(fā)展態(tài)勢已經(jīng)超越了這些數(shù)字,以至于它自身已經(jīng)成為一種規(guī)律。
對于這個用傳統(tǒng)標準來衡量已經(jīng)異常昂貴的整體股市,他們亦給出了同樣的理由。卡爾?伊卡恩在格蘭瑟姆發(fā)布其警告的前一天說:“這些股價瘋狂攀升的情況背后還有一個共同之處:人們總說‘這一次不一樣’,但結果總是事與愿違?!?/p>
這一至理名言也適用于美國的大市值企業(yè),特斯拉股價的這種離譜現(xiàn)象正是其弱點的真實寫照。(財富中文網(wǎng))
譯者:馮豐
審校:夏林
According to many of the best minds in investing, including Jeremy Grantham and the experts at Research Affiliates, the investor mindset that's driving Tesla's stock ever higher mirrors the reckless thinking that has pushed the S&P 500 to an unsustainable speculative fever that's soon bound to break. Since early summer of 2020, Tesla has been showing the same excesses, on an ultra-exaggerated scale, as the overall S&P. In the view of many market sages, Tesla is now the proxy for a market gone mad.
In an essay posted on Jan. 5, legendary investor Grantham asserted that the S&P 500 has recently entered bubble territory, and that the leading indicator, a symbol of "bulls gone wild," is the explosion in Tesla's stock. Grantham warns, "For the first 10 years of this bull market, we lacked such wild [1929- and 2000-style] speculation, but now we have it," adding that it's "especially Tesla" that epitomizes the market mania.
Grantham, the octogenarian cofounder and long-term investment strategist at asset management giant GMO, asserts that you know it's a craze when share prices, after rising steadily to lofty heights, suddenly break from that gradual ascent and take a moonshot, as if propelled by a booster rocket. "It is precisely what you'd expect from a late-stage bubble: an accelerating, nearly vertical stage of unknowable length—but typically short," he writes. For Grantham, a market vaulting faster and faster from one new peak to the next signals that we're near the bursting point.
Exhibit A is Tesla. No enterprise in the history of equity markets has ever staged such gigantic jumps in market cap, each leap far exceeding the last, in such a brief period as the electric-car maker garnered starting last summer. As of early January, Tesla's liftoff has made founder and CEO Elon Musk the world's richest person, boasting a net worth of $195 billion, putting him $9 billion ahead of the previous title holder, Amazon's Jeff Bezos. Tesla's warning lights are also flashing that its shares are flying free of fundamentals, notably: reasonable estimates of how fast its sales and earnings can grow from here, the gravitational metrics that normally govern stock prices.
In a recent paper, Rob Arnott, Vitali Kalesnik, and Lillian Wu of Research Affiliates—a firm that oversees investment strategies for $145 billion in mutual funds and ETFs—argue that Tesla fits the two key criteria for a bubble: first, "implausible assumptions are needed to justify its valuation," and second, that "buyer interest is based on a great narrative or story that foretells great future success" but omits detailed forecasts of how Tesla will triumph, including the gigantic share of sales in the slow-growing global auto industry it would need to get there.
Let's start with Grantham's warning on how a big, new spike in prices, from already high levels, presages the death throes of a bull market. Once again, Tesla's trajectory mirrors what's happened in big-caps, just on a much grander scale. From the start of 2020, Tesla doubled to an all-time high of $180 in mid-February, only to retreat back below $100 during the brutal March selloff. Around that time, rumors abounded that the S&P 500 planned to add the electric-car maker to the index. As it turned out, the journey toward joining the S&P greatly helped Tesla's shares.
Getting a place in the 500 provides a big lift to the newcomer's shares, and the rise happens in two phases, both coming before the day it's actually added. The first boost takes place in the period when the market is buzzing that “XYZ Inc.” is up for membership. The second bump, which is usually bigger, arrives when the S&P announces that it's admitting XYZ and gives the starting date. In its study, Research Affiliates notes that hedge fund managers and other liquidity providers stockpile XYZ's shares before it joins the S&P, first during the rumor period, then at a faster pace when the S&P makes it official. Those intermediaries then unload their inventories of XYZ to the hedge funds, ETFs, and investment vehicles that track the S&P (and are hence obligated to sell shares in the companies that are kicked off, and purchase shares proportional to XYZ's weight in the index).
In Tesla's case, that pre-membership buying was epic—because the EV giant is by far the biggest new contender, measured by market cap, ever to enter the S&P. Research Affiliates estimates that $11 trillion in assets track the index. From mid-March, when the rumors started, to Nov. 16, when the S&P made the word on Wall Street official, Tesla's stock jumped from around $90 to $408, a rise of 350% that swelled its market cap by $300 billion, to $390 billion. Then, following the S&P's pre-Thanksgiving announcement, Tesla staged a second, even bigger blowout measured in what matters most, its total valuation. In the nine weeks from announcement day to officially joining on Dec. 21, its shares waxed another 59%, to $659, then surged again by Friday, Jan. 8, to $880, not long before this story was published. All told, from the Nov. 16 news to Jan. 8, Tesla more than doubled to $880, an explosion that raised its market cap even more than in the rumor period, by $446 billion.
Research Affiliates reckoned that index funds, ETFs, and other trackers bought $220 billion in Tesla's shares to rebalance their holdings, mostly from those hedge funds that had been long building stockpiles, when Tesla replaced much smaller members on Dec. 21. All that buying was bound to buoy its stock. But how does that performance compare with the gains notched by other companies just before they join the S&P?
Research Affiliates estimates that between the date of the official announcement and the day it joins the index, the average new entrant's shares beat the S&P average by 10 points. In the period from Nov. 16 to Dec. 21, the index rose just 1.9%, and Tesla soared 59%, outpacing the S&P by 57 points, almost six times the average. And in its three weeks as a member, it has gained an additional 34%. That pattern of first adding $300 billion from the March rumors to the mid-November announcement, then adding an additional nearly $450 billion in less than eight weeks, is what bothers the likes of Grantham.
The S&P 500 bubble?
In fact, Tesla's quickening hop from summit to new summit mirrors the recent course of the S&P. After a tremendous summer surge that took the index to an all-time record, it took off again in November around the time Tesla was romping, rising from 3300 early that month to 3804 on Jan. 8, or over 15% in nine weeks. The Nasdaq fared even better, rising 20%.
Tesla's second bubble alert is the performance required to give its current shareholders what they're expecting: big gains in future years. That's an absolute must if Musk is to keep investors loyal to what even he acknowledges is a risky stock. Once again, Tesla is typical of the market, only more so. The S&P 500 is so expensive that to reward investors, it needs to generate extremely rapid, if not unachievable, increases in profits going forward. As the Research Affiliates authors put it, "The first part of our definition to confirm a bubble is that using a discounted cash-flow or other valuation model, we would need implausible assumptions to justify the market's or asset's current price."
Let's assume today's and future investors would want at least a 10% annual return as the carrot for taking a rocky ride in Tesla. Since Tesla doesn't pay a dividend, it would need to deliver all of those gains via increases in its share price. So just over seven years from now, in early 2028, its stock price would need to double to $1,760, and its market cap reach $1.672 trillion. The latter is an optimistic bet, since it's highly possible that Tesla will float far more shares, as in the past, to fund future growth.
Let's further posit that in 2028, Tesla's price/earnings multiple settles at around 30. That's a high number, signaling that investors anticipate more big growth ahead. If all this happens, Tesla would be booking $55.7 billion a year in GAAP earnings in early 2028 (the $1.672 trillion market cap divided by a multiple of 30), about what Apple makes now, and rising pretty fast from there. That journey would take Tesla from an enterprise that generated $556 million in net income over the four quarters ended in October, and would have lost money without selling $1.3 billion in carbon credits, to probably reach the top five of America's most profitable companies in seven years.
I'll go with the informed guess that the top money-spinners in the S&P 500 grow their profits at GDP plus inflation in the same period, or by about 3.7% (2% for economic growth, 1.7% from a rising CPI). In that scenario, Apple, last year's No. 1 (excepting Berkshire Hathaway, which jumped in the lead because of an accounting change), would post profits of $72 billion, followed by No. 2 Microsoft at $51 billion and third-ranking JPMorgan at $47 billion. If that picture plays out, Tesla would become America's second most profitable company, beating Microsoft by $4 billion and JPMorgan by over $8 billion.
It not only won't happen, it won't come close to happening. At least that's what the numbers are saying. Grantham, a philanthropist who has contributed most of his fortune to fighting climate change, likes to cite his own favorite metric for Tesla. "As a proud Model 3 owner," he writes, "my personal favorite tidbit is that its market cap, now over $600 billion, amounts to over $1.25 million for every car sold each year versus $9,000 per car for GM." The recent run-up, just the kind of late-bubble spike Grantham warns about, has lifted that number-per-car to an even scarier $1.7 million.
The S&P is facing its own Tesla-style overvaluation problem. As of Jan. 8, the index stood at nearly 28 times the S&P's all-time peak: 12-month trailing GAAP earnings of $139 per share, posted at the close of 2019. That number either means that future returns on big-cap stocks in general will be extremely low, or that prices will drop sharply so that Wall Street can really provide what it's promising—big future gains that are impossible at these premium prices. As Grantham points out, what's unusual, and unusually disturbing, about this frenzy is that most bubbles happen when the economy's in great shape, and this one is brewing in a terrible climate ravaged by COVID-19.
As the experts at Research Affiliates point out, Tesla fans tend to shun the numbers and fall back on atmospherics, mythology, and the cult of personality. It's the same posture taken by zealots claiming that this euphoric market has legs that can churn forward ever faster. The bulls hold that Tesla is really a budding tech giant with the "optionality" to conquer sundry lucrative fields, that betting against Musk has ruined many a short-seller, and most of all, that Tesla's thundering momentum has trumped the numbers for so long that it has become a law unto itself. They're making the same case for an overall market that according to the traditional yardsticks is way overpriced. As another iconic investor, Carl Icahn, told CNBC the day before Grantham issued his warning, "Another thing [these wild rallies] have in common: It's always said, ‘It's different this time,’ but it never turns out to be the truth." That wisdom applies to America's big-caps, and nothing illustrates their vulnerability better than Tesla's outrageous run.