Volkswagen has a p/e of around 5 and it's been consistently low for years. Meanwhile Tesla has like a hundred. It will take 5 years to earn your money back if your bought Volkswagen vs 100 hundred years for Tesla.
I get that Tesla has expectations priced in but are they seriously betting that Tesla will be that profitable in the time to come? It's obviously not just Tesla but any high P/E company. I get that its a noob question but I just can't figure out why you wouldnt just buy an already profitable company instead of an expensive one that youre predicting is gonna become as profitable.