Tesla reports record revenue, profit doubles as car deliveries surge

CFP

Tesla on Wednesday reported record revenue of 8.8 billion U.S. dollars boosted by an uptick in vehicle deliveries and sales of environmental regulatory credits to other automakers. Net profit in the third quarter rose to 331 million dollars, up from 143 million dollars a year earlier.

The electric car maker also affirmed its target to deliver half a million vehicles by the end of this year, a goal that will require it to significantly ramp up vehicle sales in the fourth quarter.

Shares were up 2.5 percent at 433.88 dollars in extended trade as the carmaker beat analysts' estimates.

"We continue to see growing interest in our cars, storage and solar products and remain focused on cost-efficiency while growing capacity as quickly as possible," Tesla said in a letter to shareholders.

"Achieving this target depends primarily on quarter over quarter increases in Model Y and Shanghai production," the company said.

"Tesla used to be considered the up-and-coming automaker, but with half a million units of planned annual production and a globally expanding presence it's safe to say that the company is well out of rookie territory," said auto analyst Jessica Caldwell of Edmunds.

"If it continues on this same path, it seems that Tesla will become a fairly mainstream automaker before the mid point of this decade," said Caldwell.

Tesla has defied a downward trend in the wider auto industry in 2020 and bucked a pandemic and economic upheaval with steady sales and profitable quarters, sending shares up around 400 percent this year.

At 394.5 billion dollars, Tesla's market capitalization has become the largest among all global automakers, despite the company trailing rivals in sales, revenue and profit.

Tesla founder and chief executive Elon Musk has negotiated a rare contract, which could net him more than 50 billion dollars in compensation if Tesla's share price hits certain levels, but leave him dry if the company falters.

(With input from agencies)