Tesla's Musk: Stock's high price was a distraction, seems a better deal now

Tesla Motors is not recalling its Model S electric cars, said Tesla CEO Elon Musk Tuesday, quashing speculation following the automaker's third battery fire incident.

(Read more: Musk sees opportunities in electric airplanes)

"The headlines are extremely misleading," Musk said in an interview at the DealBook Conference. "If fire risk is your concern, you'd have a great deal of difficulty being in any better car than the Model S. [The Model S] is five times less fire risk than the average gasoline car. Moreover, we've never had a serious injury or death."

On Monday evening, editor-in-chief of tech news outlet BGR Jonathan Geller tweeted that Tesla may be considering recalling its Model S to "strengthen the undercarriage" following recent fires.

(See Jonathan Geller's Tweet)

The Model S suffered its third battery fire last week, raising questions about the safety of the popular but controversial electric car.

(Read more: Owner of flaming Tesla says he's 'still a big fan')

Noah Berger | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Elon Musk

Tesla shares ticked higher in extended-hours trading after closing down nearly 5 percent Tuesday. The company's stock has fallen more than 20 percent over the past month. Despite the recent drop, Tesla is still the top performer on the Nasdaq 100 index this year, up more than 300 percent year-to-date.

"I believe him (Musk)—I don't think they need to do a recall now," said Efraim Levy of S&P Capital IQ. "[During] each of these fires, the safety situation worked as it was supposed to. Their safety tests have shown that they've done well."

(Read more: Tesla slammed, despite expanding production)

Still, Levy has a "sell" rating on the company and a $140 price target.

"I like the company, the execution has been good, but it's the valuation that's of concern for me," he explained. "Right now, you're paying a lot upfront for potential good news later."

At the conference, Musk said the company's high stock price prior to the recent drop was "distracting," adding that shares are a "pretty good deal" at current levels.

"I went on record saying that the price is higher than we have any right to deserve," said Musk. "That said, I do think that long term, the value of the company will be well in excess of that. But to give us that valuation is to have a lot of faith in our future execution."

In October, Musk cautioned that the company's stock is overvalued, echoing a similar comment during an interview with CNBC in August.

—By CNBC's JeeYeon Park (Follow JeeYeon on Twitter: @JeeYeonParkCNBC). CNBC's Ryan Ruggiero also contributed to this report.