Elon Musk reiterates his belief that Tesla will 'be the most valuable company on earth' amid record quarter for the EV maker

• Elon Musk reiterated his belief that Tesla will be "the most valuable company on earth."
• The comments came during the electric vehicle maker's fourth-quarter earnings call.
• Tesla stock is down 59% from its 52-week high, but has rallied nearly 30% year-to-date.

Elon Musk stood behind his view that Tesla will one day be the most valuable company on earth, as he teased new initiatives during the company's fourth-quarter earnings call on Wednesday

Tesla reported quarterly results that beat analyst estimates and offered vehicle delivery guidance of 1.8 million in 2023, with a stretch goal of 2.0 million if everything goes smoothly. The better-than-feared earnings report helped push Tesla stock up as much as 12% on Thursday.

"Tesla has the most exciting product growth map of any company on earth by a long shot, and we'll continue to be in that position. We've got more great ideas than we know what to do with here. The future is very exciting... long term, I am convinced that Tesla will be the most valuable company on earth," Musk said.

He made similar comments during Tesla's third-quarter earnings call in October, when he said Tesla would be worth more than Apple and Saudi Aramco combined, or about $4 trillion. Tesla currently has a market valuation of $502 billion.

It's a bold prediction from Musk, given that Tesla stock crashed 65% last year as investors grew concerned about higher interest rates, a potential recession, Musk's Twitter takeover, and recent price cuts to Tesla's vehicle lineup.

Year-to-date, Tesla shares rave rebounded significantly, jumping nearly 30%. 

Tesla does have several avenues for future growth. On the car front, the company said its Cybertruck will enter mass production in 2024 and contribute meaningfully to its bottom line.

Musk also teased that new products are under development, which presumably could be a new car model. Wall Street analysts expect a lower-cost EV that they have dubbed the "Model 2."

"I should also say that we have other products in development. We're not going to announce them obviously but they're very exciting and I think we'll blow people's minds when we reveal them," Musk said.

Other areas of growth for the company include Tesla insurance, which is currently at an annual premium run rate of $300 million. "We're growing 20% a quarter so it's growing faster than the growth in our vehicle business," CFO Zachary Kirkhorn said. 

Tesla is also growing its energy generation and storage business, which grew 90% year-over-year in the fourth quarter with $1.3 billion in revenue.

While Tesla's insurance and energy businesses may be growing fast, they still represent about 5% of the company's overall revenue, so cars should remain the bulk driver of Tesla's future profits.

For Tesla to become the most valuable company on earth today, it would have to surpass Apple's current market valuation of $2.2 trillion, which would equate to a Tesla stock price of about $698.