Avoid Tesla Stock and Buy This Car Company Instead

Tesla stock shot up nearly 2% after CEO Elon Musk confirmed his company was finally hitting production goals for its vaunted Model 3 sedan.

But when it comes to cashing in on the global auto market, we're steering clear of Tesla and piling into another car stock...

Last month, Tesla Inc. (Nasdaq: TSLA) announced that the company's Los Angeles factory had managed to produce 5,000 Model 3 cars in five days.

In an email sent to Tesla employees the afternoon of the achievement, Musk stated that be believed Tesla has finally become a "real car company."

tesla stockWall Street certainly agreed - following the news, investors poured money into what's widely been hailed as the car manufacturer of the future.

However, this attitude is missing the bigger picture - and the more substantial profits.

You see, Tesla's real profit potential isn't in electric cars. In fact, it isn't in auto manufacturing at all...

Tesla Is the Energy Company of the Future

As Money Morning Chief Investment Strategist Keith Fitz-Gerald points out, Tesla's real profits lie in the company's ambition to become "more than a car company."

According to Keith, the fact that Musk "is involved in so many things is precisely the attraction here and why savvy investors would be wise to pay attention. Musk wants to redefine the electric grid and, with it, the world's energy supply."

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In other words, Tesla's future lies in the design, production, and distribution of an international energy company.

And Tesla is already aggressively pursuing its future as an energy provider. In 2015, Tesla announced the launch of the Tesla Powerwall, a home battery product. Tesla describes the Powerwall as a "rechargeable lithium ion battery with liquid thermal control" that can last nearly two days during a power outage.

In May 2016, Tesla began accepting preorders for "solar tiles" - solar panels that could be installed as roof tiles on homes.

This was followed by Tesla's acquisition of one of Musk's other ventures, Solar City, an industrial manufacturer that specializes in the production of solar energy devices. Over the last two years, Tesla has used Solar City's manufacturing base to increase production of the company's solar panels and make large-scale distribution a reality.

A recent report from Bloomberg revealed that Tesla's efforts are paying off - Tesla recently partnered with Home Depot to install 800 selling spaces in the home improvement company's stores. The areas, staffed by Tesla employees, will demonstrate the daily capabilities of Tesla's solar panels and the Powerwall to prospective customers.

These energy developments not only overshadow Tesla's breakthroughs in the auto industry - they demonstrate that the company's future is in revolutionizing how people access and consume energy.

In fact, Tesla's big win amounted to producing 5,000 vehicles over five days, but serious automakers achieve that level of production in mere hours.

And one of these companies is on the verge of redefining the American auto industry and making a killing in the process.

It's a classic American car company that's investing over $1 billion into driverless technology and artificial intelligence (AI).

It's taking on the largest auto market in the world - China's 22.8 million annual sales - with a lineup of five new car models for 2018 in a plan to boost revenue from China by 50%.

Plus, it currently boasts a perfect Money Morning Stock VQScore™ of 4, indicating that it's a prime buy for the savvy investor.

Here it is...

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Why Ford Motor Company Is the Car Company You Need in Your Portfolio

Following Elon Musk's announcement that Tesla had managed to produce 5,000 Model 3s in five days, Ford Motor Co.'s (NYSE: F) president of European distribution responded on Twitter that Ford normally produces 7,000 cars in merely four hours.

Raking in over $156 billion in annual revenues, Ford has long been one of the world's leading auto producers.

However, the company has recently launched a string of innovative initiatives that promise to change the company's approach to building cars and enhance returns for investors.

Over the last several years, Ford has made aggressive investments into driverless car technology, placing over $1 billion into a new company division known as Cargo AI.

The goal for this new division is to have a Ford autonomous vehicle ready by 2021. While this is ambitious, Ford has attracted the kind of talent to this project that is likely to make it happen.

According to The Wall Street Journal, Ford has recruited talent from tech giants like Apple Inc. (Nasdaq: AAPL), Google (Nasdaq: GOOGL), and Uber for this project.

And while the company is creating the future, it's also streaming its current lineup to meet changing consumer needs. In April, Ford announced that the company would no longer produce traditional sedan models and instead focus on developing the SUVs much of the company's American customer base prefers.

In addition, Ford plans to cut $11.5 billion from its operating budget over the next three years - a move that is sure to award shareholders.

While Wall Street is waiting for some big breakthroughs to grab headlines, Ford's financials already make the company a solid buy.

Ford's forward price-to-earnings ratio is a 7.7X, indicating that investors can expect plenty of growth in Ford's earnings in the near future. Not only that, but Ford also offers a 5% dividend yield.

Ford currently trades for around $11 a share. However, with these growth trends behind it, analysts see Ford heading to $16 - a gain of 45% in just 12 months.

Thanks to Ford's strong VQScore, it was easy to identify.

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