Tesla Turns a Profit

Elon Musk Keeps His Promise: Tesla Turns a Profit

By Kavitha Shastry

Tesla posted a surprise profit in the third quarter, setting CEO Elon Musk well on his way to keeping a promise he made back in May.

The electric automaker on Wednesday reported adjusted earnings of $2.90 a share in its latest quarter ー analysts had been expecting a per-share loss of $0.19. Revenues rose more than 70 percent to $6.2 billion, and free cash flows came in at $881 million.


The news sent shares of Tesla ($TSLA) up more than 10 percent after hours to their highest level since late August.

"As a Tesla bull, this is the quarter we've all been waiting for," HyperChange TV founder Galileo Russell said in an interview with Cheddar shortly after the results. "This is proving that Tesla can make money ー they're on their way to being the most profitable auto maker in the world. This justifies the company's valuation."

Tesla has come under pressure for years over how quickly it's burned through cash as it tried to ramp up production of its latest Model 3 vehicles, considered key to achieving and maintaining profitability. Last spring Musk forecast the company would be able to hit a run rate that would make it profitable in the second half of the year. After multiple delays, Tesla finally met its goal of manufacturing 5,000 Model 3s a week at the end of the second quarter, and it put out 5,300 of the mass-market vehicles in the last week of September.

The surge in production was enough to get one long-time Tesla short to change his mind on the company. On Tuesday, Andrew Left of Citron Research said he was positive on the stock, calling its story "too compelling to ignore."

In its report, Tesla said it expected to continue to generate positive cash flow in the fourth quarter and that it would focus on further lowering costs as it increases production.

Whether that results in another profitable remains to be seen ー Tesla had only posted two quarterly profits in its 10 years as a public company before this and has never had two profitable quarters in a row.