JPMorgan boosted its Tesla stake by 600% last quarter, potentially scoring it a $1 billion return

• JPMorgan Chase potentially made over $1 billion from Tesla in under two months.
• The bank's investment arm boosted its stake by 600% last quarter to around 2.5 million shares.
• Those shares have roughly doubled in value to $2.1 billion thanks to Tesla's stock rally.
• JPMorgan may have netted more than $2 billion if it bought and sold at the right time.
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JPMorgan Chase may have made over $1 billion from Tesla in less than two months. It boosted its stake in Elon Musk's electric-car startup by about 600% last quarter, before its stock price roughly doubled this year.

The banking titan's investment arm added 2.2 million Tesla shares in the final three months of 2019, ending the year with more than 2.5 million shares or a 1.4% stake, according to SEC filings and Bloomberg data. Those shares were worth about $1.1 billion then, based on Tesla's stock price of $418 on December 31. They're now worth about $2.1 billion, as Tesla shares currently trade at $850.

JPMorgan may have raked in more than $1 billion. If it snapped up the Tesla shares when they traded at $250 in early October, then sold them at their $970 peak earlier this month, its investment would have surged in value from under $650 million to nearly $2.5 billion - a return of close to $2 billion.

Other investors have probably cashed in on Tesla's rocketing stock too. Renaissance Technologies increased its holding by more than 400% last quarter, making it Tesla's seventh-biggest shareholder with a 2.1% stake. The hedge fund potentially netted more than $1.5 billion from the move.

Tesla's astounding stock rise has lifted its market capitalization to north of $150 billion, surpassing the combined market caps of automotive titans GM, Ford and Chrysler. However, critics ranging from investors and industry veterans to politicians argue the rally isn't based on anything substantive, and warn it will run out of steam.