Following third-quarter results that exceeded expectations and indicated improved operating margins and profitability, Tesla (TSLA, Financials) soared in after-hours trade. Reporting an income rise of 7.8% year-over-year to $25.18 billion, the producer of electric cars reported EPS of $0.72, which is substantially above last year's $0.66 and the consensus forecast of $0.60. This also represented a climb from the $0.52 earned in the second quarter. While non-GAAP net income came to $2.5 billion, Tesla's GAAP net income for the quarter was $2.2 billion.

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In Q3, Tesla delivered 462,890 cars; production came to 469,796 overall; the business reaffirmed its intentions to release more reasonably priced vehicles beginning in the first half of 2025.

Tesla also emphasized development in its energy sector, reporting a 75% year-over-year rise in energy storage installations, hitting 6.9 gigawatt-hours. The corporation anticipates an ongoing increase in income from its energy operations and other endeavors. With aims to boost capacity to 50,000 by the end of October, Tesla also revealed the installation of a 29,000 H100 cluster at its Texas Gigafactory.

With $6.3 billion in operational cash flow and $2.7 billion in free cash flow, Tesla completed the quarter with a cash position of $33.6 billion, up $2.9 billion.

CEO Elon Musk said at the results conference that Tesla had built its seventh million cars and reiterated its commitment to reasonably priced models and autonomous driving capabilities. By 2025, Tesla wants to boost output by 2030%; by 2026, Cybertruck manufacturing should be scaled up. With intentions to surpass human-level driving safety by mid-2025, Musk also underlined the continuous development of Tesla's Full Self-Driving technologies.

This article first appeared on GuruFocus.