Tesla has actually made some money

For the first time in two years, and just the third time in its entire 15-year history, Tesla has posted a quarterly profit. In the three months to September 30th the company (which has never reported an annual profit, remember) made $312million from $6.8billion in total revenue. Not to be sniffed at, that.

That said, in Q2 of this year, Tesla posted a loss of $718million. Which is also not to be sniffed at, but for all the wrong reasons. Still, in a letter to shareholders Tesla said Q3 2018 was “a truly historic quarter”. And as ever, the boss was chipper. In a call with investors, its CEO, who you might have heard of, said he also expected to post a profit in “all quarters going forwards”.

This quarter’s earnings were largely down to the popularity of Model 3, which Tesla says “is attracting customers of both premium and non-premium brands, making it a truly mainstream product”. Production of the BMW 3 Series-sized saloon nearly doubled from Q2 to Q3. 56,065 Models 3s were delivered in North America in Q3, and we’re promised the company will start taking orders in Europe and China “before the end of this year”.

In the same call, Musk also revealed Tesla has made “significant progress” the Model Y pick-up, and that it’s the product he’s “personally most excited about” for the future.

Proceed with cautious optimism.