Tesla stock (TSLA) surged on Thursday after mixed third quarter earnings results after the bell on Wednesday.
Investors cheered beats on adjusted earnings per share and higher gross margins in addition to the news that Tesla's cheaper electric vehicle is on track for production next year. CEO Elon Musk also said on an earnings call that Tesla's volume growth could be 20%-30% next year.
Tesla shares rose 14% in early trading, setting up to add tens of billions of dollars to the company's market valuation.
Tesla reported revenue of $25.18 billion, which was lower than the $25.4 billion expected per Bloomberg consensus but higher than the $25.05 billion it reported in Q2 and also topped the $23.4 billion Tesla reported a year ago. Tesla posted adjusted earnings per share of $0.72 vs. $0.60 expected, on adjusted net income of $2.5 billion and free cash flow of $2.9 billion.
The closely watched gross margin figure came in at 19.8%, much higher than the 16.8% expected.
"We delivered strong results in Q3 with growth in vehicle deliveries both sequentially and year-on-year, resulting in record third-quarter volumes," the company said in its earnings deck. "Preparations remain underway for our offering of new vehicles — including more affordable models — which we will begin launching in the first half of 2025."
Earlier this month, Tesla announced third quarter deliveries that slightly missed expectations, sending the stock lower.
Tesla said it delivered 462,890 vehicles in Q3, up 6.4% quarter over quarter, to mark the first quarter of delivery growth this year. The numbers also came in ahead of the 435,059 EVs the company delivered in the year-ago period. But Wall Street had expected Tesla to deliver closer to 463,897, according to Bloomberg.
"Refreshed Model 3 ramp continued successfully in Q3 with higher total production and lower cost of goods sold quarter-over-quarter. Cybertruck production increased sequentially and achieved a positive gross margin for the first time," Tesla said in its report.
Tesla said it expects vehicle deliveries to achieve "slight growth" in 2024. CEO Elon Musk added during the conference call that 20%-30% growth next year is possible, though he couched it as a "best guess."
Ahead of Tesla's Q3 disclosure, shares were down approximately 11% since Tesla revealed its robotaxi, dubbed the Cybercab, at its showy “We, Robot” event at the Warner Bros. studio lot in Burbank, Calif., on Oct. 10.
Investors and analysts were left wanting more details from Tesla’s “We, Robot” event on the Cybercab itself and detailed testing plans, along with questions about the development of Tesla’s sub-$30,000 EV, dubbed the Model 2.