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Warren Buffett only holds one electric vehicle (EV) stock in his Berkshire Hathaway portfolio. That’s Chinese automotive company BYD (OTC:BYDD.Y). He seems to be onto a winner however. This year, BYD shares are up about 35%. That compares to a return of about -28% for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) – the most popular EV play.
This EV company has momentum
I’m not surprised BYD’s outperforming Tesla by a wide margin this year. For a start, the Chinese company has far more momentum than Tesla does right now. For the first half of 2025, the company sold 2.146m vehicles. That represented growth of around 33% year on year.
Looking at Tesla’s recent numbers, it delivered about 721,000 vehicles in the first half of 2025. That’s about 13% lower than the deliveries figure of 831,000 for the first half of last year.
International expansion
Secondly, BYD’s expanding internationally at a rapid rate. Of its 2.146m H1 sales, 470,000 were exports. That figure represents an increase of about 230% on the H1 figure last year. Note that in April, BYD outsold Tesla for the first time in Europe.
Stable management
Third, BYD has a very stable CEO in Wang Chuanfu. He’s a visionary leader with a brilliant track record, however he tends to maintain a low profile. By contrast, Tesla’s CEO Elon Musk – who is also a visionary leader – is making headlines all the time. And a lot of the time, they aren’t good for his company’s share price.
For example, earlier this week, Musk announced that he is planning to launch a new political party in the US. This sent Tesla stock down about 8% (investors want Musk to focus on Tesla not politics).
It’s worth noting that Charlie Munger, Warren Buffett’s late business partner, was a huge admirer of Chuanfu. “The guy at BYD is better at actually making things than Elon is,” he once said.
Which stock will outperform from here?
Can BYD stock continue to outperform Tesla in the years ahead? I think so. Today, the valuation on BYD looks far more attractive than the valuation on Tesla. Currently, the former trades on a trailing price-to-earnings (P/E) ratio of about 23 while the latter trades on a P/E ratio of about 144.
Of course, Tesla has its robotaxis (which are now on the road in the US). These could be a major growth driver for the company in the years ahead and send its share price up significantly (note that BYD also has self-driving technology called ‘God’s Eye’).
Meanwhile, BYD faces a few risks that could potentially lead to share price weakness. These include intense levels of competition in the Chinese EV market (where there’s a major price war) and EU and/or US tariffs on its exports.
Overall though, I see more potential in BYD today. I think the Chinese EV stock’s worth considering given the company’s momentum.
