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Tesla reported third-quarter earnings Wednesday.
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Tesla Inc. on Wednesday reported quarterly earnings that beat Wall Street expectations, sending the stock higher in the extended session.
Tesla TSLA, +0.16% said it earned $331 million, or 27 cents a share, in the quarter, compared with 16 cents a share in the year-ago period.
Adjusted for one-time items, the company earned $874 million, or 76 cents a share, compared with 37 cents a share a year ago.
This was Tesla’s fifth consecutive GAAP and adjusted quarterly profit.
Sales rose to $8.77 billion from $6.30 billion a year ago.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected adjusted earnings of 56 cents a share on sales of $8.28 billion.
Tesla also kept its sales guidance for 2020, saying in a letter to investors that while its goal “has become more difficult, delivering half a million vehicles in 2020 remains our target.”
In the letter, Tesla said it has increased the Fremont, Calif., plant’s capacity to build Model 3 and Model Y vehicles to 500,000 units a year, started a second paint shop and is installing “the largest diecasting machine in the world.”
The Fremont plant will reach that full capacity at the end of the year or beginning of 2021, Tesla said.
Tesla said it increased Model 3 production capacity at its Shanghai factory to 250,000 vehicles a year, and it cut the Model 3 price in China to make it the cheapest premium mid-size sedan in that country. A third shift has been added at its China factory, the company said.
Production at the Berlin and Austin, Texas-area factories are expected to start next year, the company said. Deliveries of the Tesla Semi, the company’s long-haul electric truck, are also slated for 2021.
Tesla ended the quarter with $14.5 billion in cash and equivalents, an increase by $5.9 billion quarter-on-quarter mostly thanks to its recent $5 billion capital raise.
Tesla is hosting a conference call with analysts and others at 5:30 p.m. Eastern.
Analysts will be looking for comments around Model 3 demand, especially in China, and around the company’s goal of selling about 500,000 vehicles in 2020. Many analysts remain skeptical of that threshold.
Tesla said earlier this month it delivered 139,300 vehicles, above Wall Street expectations, in its third quarter.
Tesla Chief Executive Elon Musk last week announced on Twitter a price cut for the Model S base model to $69,420 from $71,990.
At its September “battery day,” the company announced a new top-of-the-line version of the Model S, to be available next year, as well as a yet-to-be-named vehicle under $25,000.
Tesla shares have gained around 408% this year, compared with gains around 7% for the S&P 500 index SPX, -0.22%.
