Critical Comparison: Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) & Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN)

Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN) and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) are both auto/tires/trucks companies, but which is the superior investment? We will contrast the two companies based on the strength of their profitability, earnings, valuation, analyst recommendations, dividends, risk and institutional ownership.

Analyst Recommendations

This is a breakdown of current ratings and target prices for Mullen Automotive and Tesla, as reported by MarketBeat.com.

	Sell Ratings	Hold Ratings	Buy Ratings	Strong Buy Ratings	Rating Score
Mullen Automotive	0	0	0	0	0.00
Tesla	9	10	21	1	2.34

Tesla has a consensus target price of $289.43, indicating a potential downside of 15.82%. Given Tesla’s stronger consensus rating and higher possible upside, analysts clearly believe Tesla is more favorable than Mullen Automotive.

Institutional and Insider Ownership

11.7% of Mullen Automotive shares are owned by institutional investors. Comparatively, 66.2% of Tesla shares are owned by institutional investors. 3.6% of Mullen Automotive shares are owned by insiders. Comparatively, 20.7% of Tesla shares are owned by insiders. Strong institutional ownership is an indication that large money managers, hedge funds and endowments believe a stock will outperform the market over the long term.

Volatility & Risk

Mullen Automotive has a beta of 2.63, meaning that its share price is 163% more volatile than the S&P 500. Comparatively, Tesla has a beta of 2.43, meaning that its share price is 143% more volatile than the S&P 500.

Profitability

This table compares Mullen Automotive and Tesla’s net margins, return on equity and return on assets.

	Net Margins	Return on Equity	Return on Assets
Mullen Automotive	-12,717.94%	-2,736.27%	-215.31%
Tesla	7.26%	10.31%	6.15%

Valuation & Earnings

This table compares Mullen Automotive and Tesla”s top-line revenue, earnings per share (EPS) and valuation.

	Gross Revenue	Price/Sales Ratio	Net Income	Earnings Per Share	Price/Earnings Ratio
Mullen Automotive	$4.01 million	0.00	-$457.06 million	N/A	N/A
Tesla	$95.72 billion	11.57	$7.13 billion	$1.82	188.91

Tesla has higher revenue and earnings than Mullen Automotive.

Summary

Tesla beats Mullen Automotive on 12 of the 13 factors compared between the two stocks.

About Mullen Automotive

Mullen Automotive, Inc., an electric vehicle company, manufactures, sells, and distributes electric vehicles. Its products include passenger electric vehicles and commercial vehicles; and provides solid-state polymer battery technology. The company is headquartered in Brea, California.

About Tesla

Tesla, Inc. designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells electric vehicles, and energy generation and storage systems in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage. The Automotive segment offers electric vehicles, as well as sells automotive regulatory credits; and non-warranty after-sales vehicle, used vehicles, body shop and parts, supercharging, retail merchandise, and vehicle insurance services. This segment also provides sedans and sport utility vehicles through direct and used vehicle sales, a network of Tesla Superchargers, and in-app upgrades; purchase financing and leasing services; services for electric vehicles through its company-owned service locations and Tesla mobile service technicians; and vehicle limited warranties and extended service plans. The Energy Generation and Storage segment engages in the design, manufacture, installation, sale, and leasing of solar energy generation and energy storage products, and related services to residential, commercial, and industrial customers and utilities through its website, stores, and galleries, as well as through a network of channel partners; and provision of service and repairs to its energy product customers, including under warranty, as well as various financing options to its solar customers. The company was formerly known as Tesla Motors, Inc. and changed its name to Tesla, Inc. in February 2017. Tesla, Inc. was incorporated in 2003 and is headquartered in Austin, Texas.