Tesla posts surprise £1.68bn third-quarter profit, up 17.3% from a year ago

Tesla’s third-quarter net income rose 17.3% compared with a year ago as its electric vehicle sales rose.

The Texas-based company said on Wednesday that it made 2.17 billion dollars (£1.68 billion) from July to September, more than the 1.85 billion dollars it posted in the same period of 2023.

The profit came despite price cuts and low-interest financing that helped boost sales of the company’s ageing vehicle line-up.

It was the company’s first year-over-year quarterly profit increase of 2024.

Revenue in the quarter rose 7.8% to 25.18 billion dollars (£19.48 billion), falling short of Wall Street analysts who estimated it at 25.47 billion dollars (£19.70 billion), according to FactSet.

Excluding one-time items, Tesla made 72 cents per share, beating analyst expectations of 59 cents.

Earlier this month Tesla said it sold 462,890 vehicles from July to September, up 6.4% from a year ago and the first quarterly increase of 2024. The sales numbers were better than analysts had expected.

Even with sales drops in the first two quarters, Tesla said in its letter to shareholders that it expected slight growth in vehicle deliveries for the full year despite “ongoing macroeconomic conditions”, mainly high interest rates.

Last year the company sold 1.8 million EVs worldwide.

The letter said Tesla is on track to start production of new vehicles, including more affordable models, in the first half of next year, something investors had been looking for.

The new vehicles will use parts from current models and will be made on the same assembly lines, the letter said.