Tesla certainly isn't a loser anymore.
The car company's stock topped $100 a share for the first time ever in early trading Tuesday, following a string of good news in recent weeks. Earlier this month, Tesla reported its first profitable quarter as a company, a hugely important milestone that helped send the stock up 25% in after-hours trading from its closing price of about $55, and sent it up more than 50% in the first three days of trading afterwards.
That stock surge prompted Tesla to raise more capital and to repay a government loan nine years early -- with interest.
Tesla's stock has nearly doubled since the earnings report was released on May 8, and its market cap is now nearly $12 billion. That's certainly well below other big American car companies like General Motors ($46 billion) and Ford ($60 billion), but Tesla is catching up quickly.
[img src="http://media.ycharts.com/charts/5b861ca60769466c79ad8d97a8a78703.png" caption="" credit="" alt="TSLA Chart"]TSLA data by YCharts
Elon Musk, the company's founder, has seen his net worth increase significantly as a result. CNNMoney reports that the value of Musk's stake in Tesla has increased by more than $2 billion this year.