Shares of electric car maker Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ:TSLA) rose 14% to almost $660 U.S. in after hours trading Wednesday following the company’s latest quarterly results.
Tesla delivered a second straight quarter of strong earnings and executed on a number of key milestones, both of which impressed investors. Record revenue reported by Tesla beat analysts estimates and carried the company to its fourth profit in the last six quarters. Chief Executive Officer Elon Musk again accelerated the introduction of the new Model Y crossover vehicle, saying deliveries will start by March, months earlier than had been planned.
The shares, which are the most-shorted American stock, had already more than doubled in value since Mr. Musk reported a surprise profit last October and divulged the imminent opening of a new plant in China. Tesla appears to have turned a corner from years of over-promising and under-delivering, vaulting the electric car manufacturer past Volkswagen AG to become the second-most valuable automaker in the world, behind only Toyota Motor Corp.
Investors have rewarded Tesla for building a commanding lead over manufacturers that have been slow to embrace an electric future and abandon old internal-combustion engines. The Model Y, which Musk predicts will outsell all other Tesla vehicles combined, was initially scheduled to launch this fall. The company has moved up that date in each of its last two quarterly reports.
In the most recent quarter, free cash flow exceeded $1 billion U.S. for the first time, bolstering the view that Tesla can sustain itself after years of making frequent return trips to Wall Street for financing. Mr. Musk has said that he doesn’t plan to raise capital and will continue paying down debt over time. The company projected it will deliver at least 500,000 vehicles this year, a more than 35% jump from 2019.
