Tesla Reports Surprise Q3 Profit, Shares Up 14%

(RTTNews) - Shares of Tesla Motors Inc. (TSLA) surged 14 percent in extended session on Wednesday after the luxury electric car maker swung to a third-quarter profit as revenues soared. Both earnings and revenues for the quarter trumped Wall Street expectations, as Tesla reported its first profit in two years.

Palo Alto, California-based Tesla reported third-quarter profit of $311.5 million or $1.75 per share, compared to last year's loss of $619.4 million or $3.70 per share last year.

Excluding items, adjusted earnings for the quarter were $3.02 per share, compared to adjusted loss of $2.92 per share last year. On average, 22 analysts polled by Thomson Reuters expected loss of $0.19 per share for the quarter.

Tesla's revenues for the quarter surged to $6.82 billion from $2.98 billion last year. Analysts had a consensus revenue estimate of $6.30 billion.

Model 3 was the best-selling car in the US in terms of revenues and the 5th best-selling car in terms of volumes, Tesla said in a statement.

In the third quarter, Tesla said it delivered 56,065 Model 3s to customers. Tesla notes that more than half of trade-in vehicles received through Model 3s were priced below $35,000 when new, which indicates that customers are willing to buy a more premium Model 3. Tesla said it is working hard to bring down the price of Model 3 to $35,000 from $49,000.

"In order to significantly increase the affordability of Model 3, we have decided to accelerate our manufacturing timeline in China. We are aiming to bring portions of Model 3 production to China during 2019 and to progressively increase the level of localization through local sourcing and manufacturing. Production in China will be designated only for local customers," the company said in a statement.

Tesla had been criticized for slow manufacturing process at its Model 3s factory for the past few quarters, however, the company touted that it made 4,300 vehicles per week on average, 20 percent higher than its initial production targets. Tesla delivered a total of 56,065 Model 3s to customers during third quarter.

"Labor hours per Model 3 decreased by more than 30% from Q2 to Q3, falling for the first time below the level for Model S and X. In Q4, we will focus even further on cost improvements while continuing to increase our production rate."

Looking ahead, the company said Model 3s quarterly production will continue to increase in the fourth quarter compared to third quarter and target goal of delivering 100,000 Model S and Xs by the end of the year remain unchanged.

TSLA closed Wednesday's trading at $288.50, down $5.64 or 1.92%, on the Nasdaq. The stock, however, gained $35.46 or 12.29% in the after-hours trade.