STORY: Tesla surprised investors with strong third-quarter results on Wednesday.
And CEO Elon Musk also said he expects Tesla to see “vehicle growth” of 20% to 30% next year.
That bold outlook appears to have reassured investors the company was improving its core business of profitably selling electric vehicles.
It pushed Tesla shares up 12% in after-hours trade on Wednesday,
setting up the company to add about $80 billion in stock market value.
Shares of Tesla’s smaller EV rivals Rivian and Lucid also both rose 2% after-hours.
Tesla’s third-quarter profit margin from vehicle sales grew around 3 points to just over 17%, according to Reuters calculations.
That exceeded Wall Street projections of just under 15%, according a poll by Visible Alpha.
Investors’ confidence was also lifted by Tesla reporting a drop in the cost of making its electric vehicles to a record low.
On a conference call with analysts on Wednesday, Musk pointed out that profitability despite what he called “a very challenging automotive environment,” in which he said Tesla, to his knowledge, was the only profitable EV company.
A separate Tesla statement said it would remain focused on expanding its vehicle lineup.
The surprising forecast appears to have eased concerns surrounding Tesla’s long-awaited robotaxi, which it unveiled at an event earlier this month.
Investors slammed shares the next day for the lack of a concrete business plan, sending Tesla stock tumbling.
