Despite factory shutdowns due to the pandemic, Tesla posted on Wednesday a surprise net profit for the second quarter, beating analyst expectations and reporting its fourth consecutive quarter of net profits.
Despite the closure of Tesla’s main factory in Fremont for almost half the quarter, the EV maker posted its fourth sequential GAAP profit of US$104 million in Q2.
Four profitable quarters in a row make Tesla now eligible to be considered for inclusion in the S&P 500 Index.
Following the results release late on Wednesday, Tesla’s shares were up by 5 percent on the NASDAQ in pre-market trading on Thursday.
Earlier this month, Tesla reported its second-quarter vehicle and production delivery numbers, which showed 82,000 vehicles produced and 90,650 vehicles delivered, easily beating analyst expectations for deliveries.
“While our main factory in Fremont was shut down for much of the quarter, we have successfully ramped production back to prior levels,” Tesla said.
Commenting on the Q2 performance and what lies ahead for the rest of the year, the EV maker said on Wednesday:
“Production output of our existing facilities continues to improve to meet demand, and we are adding more capacity. Later this year, we will be building three factories on three continents simultaneously.”
Construction is ongoing at Gigafactory Berlin in Germany, one of Tesla’s biggest European markets, where it continues to build capacity for Model Y and remains on track to start deliveries of Model Y from Gigafactory Berlin and Gigafactory Shanghai in 2021.
CEO and product architect of Tesla motors
In addition, Tesla has also selected the site for its next U.S. Gigafactory, with preparations underway. On the earnings call after the Q2 results release, Elon Musk said that Tesla had picked Austin, Texas, for the new Gigafactory in the United States.
“We’re going to make it a factory that is going to be stunning it’s right on the Colorado River. So we’re actually going to have to have a boardwalk over you, hiking, biking trail. It’s going to basically be an ecological paradise,” Musk said about the Austin site, as cited by CNBC.
