Electric vehicle manufacturer Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) has reported record revenue and profits for this year’s third quarter, beating Wall Street forecasts by a wide margin.
Earnings per share came in at $1.86 U.S. compared to $1.59 U.S. expected by analysts, while the company’s revenues amounted to $13.76 billion U.S. versus $13.63 billion U.S. expected by analysts. Tesla also reported $1.62 billion U.S. in net income for the quarter, the second time it has surpassed $1 billion U.S. In the year-ago quarter, net income totaled $331 million U.S.
The record results were driven by improved gross margins of 30.5% on Tesla’s automotive business and 26.6% overall, both of which are records. Automotive revenue rose to $12.06 billion U.S. and costs of automotive revenue amounted to $8.38 billion U.S. for Q3.
Tesla also generated $806 million U.S. in revenue from its energy business, which combines solar and energy storage products, and $894 million U.S. in services and other revenue, which includes vehicle maintenance and repairs, auto insurance and sales of Tesla-branded merchandise among other things.
In a news release, Tesla said "A variety of challenges, including semiconductor shortages, congestion at ports and rolling blackouts, have been impacting our ability to keep factories running at full speed."
However, even with those issues, the company reiterated prior guidance that it expects to "achieve 50% average annual growth in vehicle deliveries" over a multi-year horizon.
Tesla had previously disclosed deliveries of 241,300 electric vehicles and production of 237,823 vehicles during the period ended September 30, 2021.
