New York (CNN Business) A tumultuous quarter at Tesla ended with some very good sales numbers.

The company delivered 83,500 vehicles during the third quarter, a strong performance that should calm investor fears about logistical problems and a looming cash crunch. That included almost 56,000 of the lower-priced Model 3.

Production was a bit below that number: Tesla said it built about 53,000 Model 3s. But that was within the company's projections.

Only three months ago, the company struggled to build 5,000 Model 3s in a week, a long-delayed target. Tesla did not maintain that pace, but production was still high enough to keep the company on track to turn a sustained profit for the first time.

Tesla was sorely in need of good news.