Could Tesla's stock become a super stock competitor to Apple?

Of the five biggest US companies by market value, $Tesla(TSLA.US)$ ’s shares are by far the most expensive, yet they’re the only ones whose performance comes close to $Apple(AAPL.US)$ ’s, which has been a rare bright spot for investors in the sector this year. Tesla is down 22% this year while Apple has fallen 15%. By contrast, $Microsoft(MSFT.US)$ , $Alphabet-C(GOOG.US)$ $Alphabet-A(GOOGL.US)$ and $Amazon(AMZN.US)$ have all declined 29% or more, roughly the same as the $Nasdaq Composite Index(.IXIC.US)$ .
On the surface, Tesla appears to be the polar opposite of Apple. The electric-vehicle maker is big on revenue growth but shorter on profits, and several years ago it was burning so much cash it was on the brink of bankruptcy. Apple’s expansion, by contrast, has slowed to a crawl, yet it has become a profit juggernaut with an expected $100 billion in net income this fiscal year.
The correlation between the two is surprising, but when you consider that Tesla is the only game in town for electric vehicles, that makes it unique. Other big tech names are in software or cloud, which are more competitive markets, and I think people underestimate the appeal of a pure play in a particular thematic.
Apple and Tesla are similar in that they have huge market values -- $2.4 trillion and $862 billion, respectively -- which means they benefit from flows into funds that track major indexes. They’re also less tied to the business cycle than other tech-related stocks, according to Wiley Angell, chief market strategist at Ziegler Capital Management.
Those attributes -- and the cult followings that their products enjoy -- have made both stocks among the most popular for retail traders. Apple and Tesla were by far the most purchased stocks by mom-and-pop investors over the past five days, Vanda Research said on Sept. 21.
Apple’s immense cash flows and commitment to return money to shareholders via dividends and buybacks have made it a favorite for investors seeking to play defense amid concerns that the Federal Reserve’s efforts to tame inflation will push the US economy into recession. Meanwhile, some of the volatility in Tesla this year is related to CEO Elon Musk’s decision to buy $Twitter (Delisted)(TWTR.US)$ , a deal he is trying to get out of.