Apple Won't Buy Tesla, CLSA Says

• One of Fortune's most notable predictions for 2016 consisted of Apple Inc. AAPL acquiring Tesla Motors Inc TSLA.
• Fortune noted that Apple will acquire access to Tesla's battery technology, and more importantly, Tesla's CEO Elon Musk
• A tech analyst at CLSA told Benzinga that he doubts Fortune's prediction will play out.

Rumors and chatter of Apple acquiring Tesla has surfaced in the past and has even been supported by Gene Munster, one of Wall Street's most notable and respected analyst.

Piper Jaffray's Munster told Benzinga back in July that the entire automotive sector is going to change "dramatically" over the next 15 years. He also added that technology companies have a "real opportunity to box out traditional automotive guys."

Munster also said Tesla CEO Elon Musk essentially has two options: sell the company, or "get comfortable with Apple as a competitor." The analyst added that by selling to Apple, Musk could have access to "hundreds of billions" of dollars to "fund his dream," rather than having just "tens of billions."

Related Link: Apple Is Building A Virtual Reality Supply Chain With Disruptive Potential, New Research Shows

Fortune: Musk A ‘Worthy Heir' To Jobs' Legacy

Fortune's prediction holds some merit and logic. The publication pointed out that Apple's cash balance stands at over $200 billion, giving the company "ample resources" to "absorb" an acquisition.

Shares of Tesla were trading near $223 per share on Thursday with a market capitalization of $28.68 billion. However, the stock has lost more than 12 percent of its value over the past three months and is nearly 10 percent lower than it was 52 weeks ago.

Fortune pointed out that Musk has said that he wants to change "the entire energy infrastructure of the world." This is the kind of ambition that would make Musk a "worthy heir to Steve Jobs' ‘think different' legacy" and a potential "chief technologist and CEO-in-waiting."

CLSA Analyst Responds

A tech analyst at CLSA "personally doubts" that Apple will acquire Tesla.

According to the analyst, Apple is putting in a lot of effort into its automotive projects, and the company is motivated to "do it organically, even if that means poaching some of the industry's best from Tesla and others."