Tesla back in black

A surprise quarterly profit has seen Tesla shares soar.

Tesla chief executive officer Elon Musk plans to keep the momentum going with promises of a cheaper SUV coming out next year, more self-driving technology, the company months ahead of schedule on Model Y compact crossover production plans and China Gigafactory, and its solar installations up 48% on quarter two.

Shares increased about 20% hours after the news, exceeding US$300 for the first time since March  following record deliveries and cost cuts providing a profitable third quarter.

Tesla posted a cash balance increase to US$5.3 billion and reported a profit of US$1.86 a share, well exceeding even optimistic forecasts.

Its Model Y is now due by mid-2020 with pricing expected to start at about US$39,000, while Model 3 trial output is underway at the Shanghai factory too and forecast to reach about 1000 a week by the end of 2019.

Musk says a Tesla ute (pickup truck in US parlance) is likely to be revealed in November, and Tesla expects to add more self-driving features shortly.

However, revenue fell to US$6.3 billion in the third quarter, missing analysts’ estimates and dropping from US$6.8 billion a year ago, Bloomberg reports.

Bloomberg expects Tesla will have to contain costs involved in further developments which include a European Gigafactory, the Semi truck, and the next generation Roadster.

Tesla could exceed 360,000 vehicle deliveries this year and plans to generally be cash flow positive as it’s now able to be self-funding and may also supply batteries and components to other automotive manufacturers.