Tesla stock on a tear, hits $500 for the first time. The electric carmaker is now valued more than Ford and GM’s combined

Tesla made history on Monday, when the electric carmaker’s stock price topped $500 a share for the first time. In early trading, Tesla shares reached as high as $504.88 as investors continued to throw more weight behind the company and its prospects for future growth and success.

Along with the good news, Tesla’s founder and CEO, Elon Musk, took to social media on Monday. Musk said Tesla cars will soon be able to “talk” to pedestrians. Musk did this via his favorite method of telling the public about what’s going on with Tesla, a Twitter tweet.

The stock has been on a tear since reporting a surprisingly profitable quarter on Oct. 23. With the new stock milestone, the market now values of Ford and General Motors were $37 billion and $50 billion at Wednesday’s close, bringing the combined total to $87 billion, a few billion dollars short of Tesla’s.

The rise in Tesla market value is driven partly due to the company’s entrance into Chinese market and strong year-end delivery numbers. The company’s rise is partly due to its entrance into China has driven the stock’s rise. Tesla began deliveries of its Model 3 sedan in China at the end of 2019 and has reportedly ramped up production at the new factory to more than 1,000 vehicles per week.