Ford is once again more valuable than Tesla (F, TSLA, GM)

Ford NASCAR Burnout

Ford has passed Tesla as the No. 2 US automaker by market capitalization.
General Motors is the largest US automaker by market value.
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It took more than two years, but Ford is once again more valuable than Tesla.

Ford shares surged more than 10%, up $1.04, on Friday after the company posted first-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates. The gains ran Ford's market cap to more than $41 billion, putting it ahead of Tesla's $40 billion valuation. Both automakers trail General Motors, which had a market value of $56 billion.

It's been a long road back to the No. 2 spot for Ford, which had remained the third-largest US automaker by market cap since it was surpassed by Tesla in April 2017.

For much of the past two years Tesla and GM flip-flopped between the top two spots. But in January, GM reclaimed the No. 1 spot and has not relinquished it as Tesla has struggled with demand issues and just posted a big first-quarter loss.

In terms of 2018 sales, General Motors was No. 1 (2.95 million), followed by Ford (2.5 million) and Fiat Chrysler (2.24 million). By comparison, Tesla sold more than 200,000 vehicles in a year for the first time in 2018.