Tesla's controversial founder and chief executive has predicted the electric car maker will now remain profitable - helping to spark a leap in its share price.

Elon Musk, who has had a choppy few months culminating in him losing the chairmanship of the company, made his remarks after Tesla posted earnings of $311.5m (£241m) in its third quarter.

It marked its first quarterly profit in two years and only the third in its history as a public company.

The profit was taken as a sign that Musk was keeping promises he made in August that an acceleration in production of the Model 3 would reap rewards.

Image: Musk has credited higher production and sales volumes for the Model 3 for driving its profitability

Revenue more than doubled from the same three-month period last year to $6.8bn.


Shares began trading up nearly 8% as markets opened on Thursday, the day after results were announced.

Mr Musk credited support shown to the company by its customers which has taken the Model 3 - its first mass-market vehicle - to the top of the best-selling luxury car list in the United States.

"I am incredibly excited about what lies ahead," he told financial analysts in a conference call.

"I think we may have the most exciting product roadmap of any company on earth, by far."

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Despite this, Tesla has a series of challenges ahead.

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It has until mid-November to appoint a new chairman after Musk agreed to relinquish the role as part of a settlement with US regulators.

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) had accused him of misleading investors after the entrepreneur posted a tweet in August saying he had secured financing to pull off a buyout of Tesla - essentially taking it back into private hands.

After initially denying the SEC's accusations, Musk and Tesla agreed to pay a combined $40m fine to resolve the case without acknowledging or denying wrongdoing.

Tesla also remains under pressure to maintain profitability.

It has debts of about $10bn, with repayments of an estimated $1.3bn due by March next year.

Musk indicated his prediction of continued profitability would be tested in the financial quarters where major debt repayments were due.