Tesla 'left the old-school automakers in the dust,' Jim Cramer says

• "They have left the old-school automakers in the dust. At this point, it's not even a fair comparison," said CNBC's Jim Cramer, reacting to Tesla's big earnings report.
• "When it comes to Tesla, the doubters were wrong and the believers were right," the "Mad Money" host said.
• "I can remember, only about a year ago, when people still worried that Tesla was functionally bankrupt," he said.

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CNBC's Jim Cramer on Thursday lauded Tesla after the company turned in what its high-profile leader is calling the best earnings report in its history.

While Tesla shares rose less than 1% during the trading day after posting a revenue and earnings beat, the "Mad Money" host said the electric vehicle company, valued at $396.8 billion, occupies a lane of its own.

"They have left the old-school automakers in the dust. At this point, it's not even a fair comparison," Cramer said.

"When it comes to Tesla, the doubters were wrong and the believers were right."

Shares of Detroit's Big Three traditional automakers, which have all been around for more than a century, rose as high as 4.6% during the trading day, though their combined market cap of $106 billion pales in comparison to the company based in Palo Alto, California.

Given Tesla's stock activity, Cramer classifies the carmaker as a tech company on wheels.

"It's not a cult stock, as I once thought," he said. "That was wrong."

Tesla has been one of the hottest stocks on the market this year, gaining almost 409% in value as of Thursday's $425.79 close. Elon Musk's enterprise produced $8.77 billion in revenue, above a Refinitiv estimate of $8.36 billion, and yielded a profit of 76 cents per share, beating forecasts by 19 cents.

The company delivered 139,300 vehicles during the three-month period after producing more than 145,000 units, which smashed a prior delivery record of 112,000 cars in the last quarter of 2019.

Tesla recorded its fifth consecutive quarter of profit, though the stock was passed up for entry on the S&P 500 after becoming eligible after the prior quarter.

"I can remember, only about a year ago, when people still worried that Tesla was functionally bankrupt," Cramer said. "Now I can argue that it's got the best balance sheet in the industry."

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