Tesla stock (TSLA) soared on Thursday as investors took note of positive news in mixed third-quarter results.
Investors welcomed higher adjusted earnings per share and gross margin, as well as news that Tesla’s cheap electric cars are on track to go into production next year. CEO Elon Musk also said at an earnings conference that Tesla’s sales growth rate could be 20% to 30% next year.
Tesla stock ended the day up nearly 22%, its best day since 2013 and boosted the company’s market valuation by tens of billions of dollars.
Tesla reported revenue of $25.18 billion, lower than the Bloomberg consensus estimate of $25.4 billion but higher than the $25.05 billion it reported in the second quarter. That’s more than the $23.4 billion reported a year ago. Tesla reported adjusted earnings per share of $0.72 versus expectations of $0.60, with adjusted net income of $2.5 billion and free cash flow of $2.9 billion.
The gross profit margin, which was attracting attention, was 19.8%, which was much higher than the expected 16.8%.
“The company delivered strong results in the third quarter, increasing vehicle deliveries quarter-over-quarter and year-over-year, resulting in record third-quarter sales,” the company said in its earnings filing. It became,” he said. “Preparations for the new vehicle offering, including more affordable models, continue to be underway and are expected to start rolling out in the first half of 2025.”
Earlier this month, Tesla announced that third-quarter deliveries were slightly lower than expected, sending its stock price down.
Tesla said it delivered 462,890 vehicles in the third quarter, an increase of 6.4% from the previous quarter and the first quarterly increase in deliveries this year. This number exceeded the 435,059 EVs the company delivered in the same period last year. However, Wall Street expected Tesla’s deliveries to be closer to 463,897 vehicles, according to Bloomberg.
Tesla said in its report, “Production increases for the new Model 3 continued steadily in the third quarter, with total production increasing quarter-on-quarter and cost of goods sold falling.Cybertruck production increased quarter-on-quarter, marking the first time We achieved positive gross profit.”
Tesla said it expects vehicle deliveries to reach “modest increases” in 2024. CEO Elon Musk said on a conference call that a 20% to 30% increase is possible next year, but insisted that was a “best guess.”
Ahead of Tesla’s third-quarter disclosure, Tesla unveiled a robot taxi called CyberCab on October 10 at a glitzy “We, Robot” event at the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, California. Since then, the stock price has fallen about 11%.
Investors and analysts at Tesla’s “We, Robot” event were hoping to learn more details about the CyberCab itself, detailed test plans, and more about the development of Tesla’s sub-$30,000 EV, called the Model 2. I also asked questions.
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