NEW YORK (AP) — Tesla, the car company run by Elon Musk, reported Wednesday that it sold more vehicles in the past three months after boycotts hit hard earlier this year, but profits still fell sharply.
Third-quarter earnings at Tesla fell to $1.4 billion, or 39 cents a share, from $2.2 billion, or 62 cents a share, a year earlier. That marked the third quarter in a row that profit dropped. Excluding certain charges, earning were 50 cents per share, down from 72 cents per share a year ago and below the 56 cents forecast by Wall Street analysts.
Revenue rose to $28.1 billion from $25.2 billion in the June through September period, beating Wall Street’s forecast.
Tesla shares fell 1% to $434.82 in after-hours trading
Financial analysts have been upping their estimates of revenue since Musk announced earlier this month that sales of electric vehicles, one part of the multipronged business, rose 7% in the quarter after plunging for most of the year.
The sales were boosted by customers rushing to take advantage of a $7,500 federal tax credit for those EV purchases before it expired on Oct. 1, possibly stealing sales from the current quarter.
Tesla was also helped by surging sales from its separate battery storage business, but the EVs still make up much of the overall revenue figures.
