If You Invested $1,000 In Tesla Stock When The Cybertruck Was Unveiled, Here's How Much You'd Have Today

One of the most anticipated vehicle launches of all time is set for Thursday, Nov. 30 with the first deliveries of Tesla Inc’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) Cybertruck pickup truck.

Here's a look back at the company’s unveiling of the truck and how much investors could have made timing their stock purchase.

What Happened: Tesla CEO Elon Musk unveiled the Cybertruck at a public event on Nov. 22, 2019.

Originally set for a 2021 launch, the vehicle suffered several delays and setbacks before its now 2023 launch. The film "Blade Runner" and the James Bond vehicle from "The Spy Who Loved Me" inspired the design.

The unique design of the vehicle and fans of Tesla and Musk have led to strong demand for the vehicle. Tesla reported 250,000 reservations, via a $100 deposit, a week after the unveiling. In recent comments, Tesla has said there are over one million reservations for the vehicle. Third party estimates put the estimate closer to two million units reserved.

With the Cybertruck, Tesla adds another vehicle class to compete with Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F), General Motors Company (NYSE:GM) and Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN).

In the U.S., trucks remain a top seller. In 2022, five of the top 10 bestselling vehicles were pickup trucks, including the top three vehicles.

Pop culture references, like when the vehicle appeared on an episode of "The Simpsons," sparked interest. Podcast host Joe Rogan has also discussed the vehicle and praised its unique design during several of his interviews.

Tesla has estimated it will hit 250,000 Cybertruck units annually by 2025. Musk has tried to downplay early expectations for deliveries of the highly anticipated vehicle.

"I always try to downplay the start of production because the start of production is always very slow. It increases exponentially, but it's always very slow at first. So I wouldn't put too much thought into the start of production. It's kind of when volume production happens, and that's next year," Musk said during an earnings call.

Investors and analysts see the Cybertruck as a big catalyst, which could mean more upside for Tesla shares. If you purchased shares when the Cybertruck was first unveiled, you have already been rewarded.

Investing $1,000 in Tesla Stock: A $1,000 investment could have purchased 2.94 shares of TSLA at the opening print on Nov. 22, 2019.

Tesla underwent stock splits of five-for-one in 2020 and three-for-one in 2022. The splits would take the 2.94 shares to 44.1 total Tesla shares.

The $1,000 investment would be worth $10,766.57 today, based on a price of $244.14 for Tesla at the time of writing. The $1,000 investment would be up 976.7% over the last four years.

For comparison, the same $1,000 invested in the SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSE:SPY), which tracks the top 500 U.S. stocks, wouldn't have fared as well. The $1,000 investment in the SPY would be worth $1,563.86 today. This represents a return of 56.4% over the last four years, significantly trailing the performance of Tesla over the same period.

RIVNRivian Automotive Inc

$13.78-0.07%

SPYState Street SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust

$737.35-0.25%

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