By Tesla Inc. late Wednesday reported quarterly earnings that blew past Wall Street expectations, and the stock rose more than 4% in the after-hours session.
Tesla
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-4.96%
said it earned $3.2 billion, or $2.86 a share, in the first quarter, compared with earnings of $438 million, or 39 cents a share, in the year-ago period. Adjusted for one-time items, the EV maker earned $3.22 a share.
Revenue rose 81% to $18.6 billion from $10.39 billion a year ago.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected the company to report adjusted earnings of $2.26 a share on sales of $17.85 billion.
“The pace of production ramps in Austin and Berlin will be influenced by the successful introduction of many new product and manufacturing technologies in new locations and ongoing supply chain related challenges,” Tesla told investors in a letter. “Factory ramps take time, and Gigafactory Austin and Gigafactory Berlin-Brandenburg will be no different.”
Tesla earlier this month reported first-quarter deliveries and production numbers that were viewed as good, considering factory shutdowns in Shanghai.
Going into the report, the Shanghai factory halts amid China’s stringent “COVID-zero” policies, as well as concerns about Chief Executive Elon Musk’s bid to buy Twitter Inc.
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taking away his attention from the EV maker were often cited as key issues for Tesla.
Musk made a $43 billion bid for the social-media company last week. He tweeted earlier Wednesday he will be at the earnings conference call with analysts at 5:30 p.m. Eastern. The call will be webcast.
Tesla stock has gained about 36% in the past 12 months, which compares with gains of about 8% for the S&P 500 index
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