While investors wait for future stock sales to close the Twitter transaction, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) CEO says that Tesla stock might be valued as much as the combined values of Apple and Saudi Aramco, the two most valuable firms in the world.

Elon Musk made yet another extravagant promise during a Tesla Inc. earnings call, which probably led to Wednesday’s Securities and Exchange Commission opening yet another file.

The CEO of Tesla Inc. told investors on Wednesday that he anticipates the company’s valuation will surpass the sum of the market capitalizations of Apple Inc. and Saudi Arabian Oil Co., are the two most valuable firms in the world.

Musk believe that Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) can significantly outperform Apple’s current market valuation.

The aggregate market valuation of the two businesses is around $4.4 trillion US dollars as of Wednesday’s closing prices. He did, however, include a disclaimer: “That doesn’t imply it will happen or that it will be simple, in fact, it will be very difficult, take a lot of labor, really innovative new goods, expansion, and always good luck.”

For Musk, making wild predictions is nothing new. Although his argument for why Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) would surge to that level was completely incorrect, he had previously forecast that it would be worth as much as Apple. Today, Tesla’s market valuation is nearly equal to Apple’s back then.

Tesla Stock for Twitter Acquisition

However, Musk’s current circumstance is unique. Our colleagues at Barron’s recently reported that he is thought to require between $5 billion and $8 billion to complete his plan to acquire Twitter Inc. and that his only viable option for raising that amount of money is to sell Tesla stock.

In order to try to boost Tesla stock before that blackout ended, Musk was prohibited by SEC regulations from selling shares before the company’s earnings release, so what better way to do it than to make some bold forecasts on the earnings call?

Musk made other startling statements on the call on Wednesday besides his price objective of $4 trillion or more. Additionally, he disclosed to investors his expectation for Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) to undertake its first-ever stock buyback in the company’s corporate history, and a sizable one at that: $5 billion to $10 billion.

“Even in a worst-case scenario for next year, considering how challenging it would be, we still have the capacity to conduct a $5 [billion] to $10 [billion] repurchase. Obviously, this is subject to board scrutiny and approval,” he stated. Therefore, it is anticipated that we will conduct a significant repurchase.

Stephen Diamond, an associate professor at Santa Clara University School of Law, said that while revealing the news early is not always a breach of securities regulations, it is highly strange to disclose a share repurchase plan before it is legally approved and put in place by a board of directors.

Best practices advise delaying making such a statement until you have all of your ducks in a row, but he doubted that it would result in any obvious legal issues.

He said that the reason the share repurchase hasn’t been approved yet is likely because the Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) board is still expected to seek clearance from its auditors and legal counsel.

According to Delaware law, the corporation must pass an accounting test before it may repurchase shares, according to Diamond in an email. In general, it is only permitted to repurchase shares when there is a “surplus” available. To do that, they would need the board’s approval from their internal financial staff and probably outside advice from their auditors and legal counsel.

These kinds of statements from Musk in particular likely wake up some ears at the regulator’s offices, even if the early revelation of repurchase intentions would not automatically strike bells at the SEC office. The agency has already criticized Musk for previous remarks and held him accountable for not upholding the terms of the settlement he reached in that previous case. Twitter appeared to corroborate Musk’s actions as he attempted to purchase Twitter in a legal filing earlier this month. Musk is also allegedly the subject of an ongoing investigation into his conduct.

During the call, Musk would only admit that he and the other investors “are certainly overpaying for it right now” and that he is “excited about the Twitter scenario.”

A response or query regarding whether Musk has to sell more Tesla shares to complete the Twitter transaction was not answered by Tesla authorities.

Investors in Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA), however, should consider if they overpaid for their shares prior to Musk’s next round of stock sales. Musk has already sold billions of shares in the previous year, which is said to have prompted yet another SEC investigation. However, despite the chief executive’s optimism on Wednesday, shares dropped more than 6% in after-hours trade, which appeared to be overshadowed by a missed sales target and a revised outlook.

Perhaps investors are now able to see through Musk’s blathering on earnings calls, which in the past increased the value of Tesla stock. However, if Musk sells Tesla shares in the near future after attempting to raise the company’s valuation, it may not be investors who come knocking on his door but rather the SEC once more.

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