During that 5 year period when Tesla traded sideways, the stock price was being heavily, artificially suppressed by short sellers, and FUD (fear, uncertainty, doubt) from the oil industry, traditional auto, and the media. If you look at the fundamentals during that time period, you'd see the company was steadily moving towards profitability, reducing debt, increasing margins, improving manufacturing efficiency, increasing sales, and winning all kinds of awards. Also, during this 5 year period, most Wall St "analysts" still had no idea what Tesla really was/is. Wise investors payed attention to this. It was only a matter of time till the stock broke out in a big way.