Investors cheer Tesla

SHARES in electric car maker Tesla jumped 8pc in early trading after it posted its first profit in two years.

The firm reported a £241.7m profit in the three months to September 30 to see chief executive Elon Musk deliver on a promise he made.

This compares with a loss of £483m a year earlier. It raked in more than £2.3bn in revenues after producing 55,840 of its flagship Model 3 cars, up from £776m in the previous three months.

The news calmed investor nerves that Tesla might have to borrow more to ramp up production.

Tesla currently has a £7.7bn debt pile, of which £1bn must be paid by March.

Gene Munster, an analyst at technology investment firm Loup Ventures, said: ‘Simply put, deliveries and earnings are the only battles that matter.

‘It will go on for years, but every time Musk and Tesla beat expectations, they win another battle in that war. Profitability is improving at a rate where the company is on track to generate enough cash to meet its debt obligations.’

The rare profit comes just weeks after regulators in the US accused Musk of fraud for misleading tweets about taking the company private.

He has had to give up his chairman role for at least three years and pay a £31m fine. Musk said Tesla will remain a profitable company from now on. ‘This quarter was an important step toward that,’ he said.