Ford sees its market capitalization soar to $100 billion for the first time as EV ambitions push stock to a 20-year high

• The market cap of Ford Motors soared to $100 billion for the first time ever on Thursday.
• This milestone makes Ford more valuable than two of its rivals, General Motors and Rivian.
• Ford's electric vehicle ambitions have also helped push its stock to a 20-year high.

The market capitalization of Ford Motors soared to $100 billion for the first time ever on Thursday as the automaker's electric vehicle ambitions pushed its stock to a 20-year high.

Ford's stock spiked by as much as 4.6% to $25.59, propelling its valuation to about $102 billion as of 11:10 a.m. ET Thursday. Shares were last seen hovering around $25.39 as of 12:50 p.m. ET in New York.

The milestone makes the 118-year-old company more valuable than rivals General Motors (roughly $90 million) and Rivian Automotive (around $75 million). However, Ford is still an order of magnitude behind Tesla's $1 trillion market cap.

Ford's latest surge comes a week after the automaker said it would nearly double its planned production of the F-150 Lightning electric truck, which is due to be released this spring.

The new target is for 150,000 for per year by 2023, up from a prior goal of 80,000 and an initial one of only 40,000, the Dearborn, Michigan-based firm said. The accelerated push comes after Ford received upwards of 200,000 reservations for the electric pickup, which required a $100 deposit.

Ford has seen early success with its EV efforts, with the company also boosting the planned production of its Mustang Mach-E to 200,000 vehicles per year by 2023. But hopes are especially high for the electric version of the F-150, which is the best-selling vehicle in the US.

Still, some investors are not as bullish when it comes to Ford's historic upturn.

Long-time Tesla bull Cathie Wood last week said electric-forward automakers, including Tesla, are a better buy than the traditional automakers.

"They soared on those electric vehicle announcements, think about that, that's ridiculous," Wood said, referring to Ford and General Motors.