SAN FRANCISCO _ Tesla proved naysayers wrong Wednesday, posting a profit for the third quarter _ its first profitable quarter since early 2013.
A near doubling of revenue and a much lower growth in expenses produced the positive net income of $111.4 million, or 71 cents a share, when adjusted for one-time events. For the same quarter a year earlier, it posted a loss of $1.35 a share.
Analysts had expected Tesla to post a loss for its most recent quarter, with estimates ranging widely.
The actual results "reflect strong company-wide execution in many areas," the company said in a statement.
Tesla shares surged 6 percent after hours following the report.
"On first read, it appears they're paying closer attention to making money," said Michelle Krebs, senior analyst at Autotrader. "It's significant they actually posted a profit. This is a milestone everyone's been waiting for."
Over the last few months, Elon Musk, Tesla's chairman and chief executive, pressured employees to cut costs and push sales to strengthen third-quarter results, and they delivered.
The company said it sold 25,185 cars in the third quarter with revenue of $2.15 billion, more than doubling the $936 million from the same quarter last year.
Operating expenses in the meantime rose only 33 percent, to $551,113 from $415,156.
Tesla changed the way it reports its financials this quarter, hewing more closely to standard accounting practices, known as Generally Accepted Accounting Principles.
The company said it is on schedule to deliver its mid-market Model 3 by the end of next year and pump out 500,000 vehicles annually in 2018.
Its partially operational, $5 billion battery factory in Nevada, known as the Gigafactory, is on schedule as well, Tesla said.
Musk will require billions more to meet those ambitions, analysts say. Earlier this month, he tweeted that he won't seek to raise new money this year.
Thus far, the company has had little trouble raising new investments. It boasts a market value of $30.3 billion even though profits remain elusive.
Tesla's finances and prospects are controversial. Short positions in the company _ basically, bets that the stock price will plunge _ constitute about a quarter of all Tesla shares.
Tesla results next year could include numbers from SolarCity if Musk's plan to merge the two companies goes through. Shareholders for each company will vote on the merger Nov. 17.
Musk sees the combined companies as synergistic _ one-stop shopping for solar roofs that feed energy into wall-mounted storage batteries that could be used to charge electric cars.
On Friday night, at an event at Universal Studios, he is expected to show off new solar rooftops that he has promised will be as attractive as they are energy-efficient.
For the current quarter, Tesla is projecting positive net income.
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