Tesla Tops Earnings Estimates – Plans $3.6bn Nevada Gigafactory Expansion

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) reported earnings after the close Wednesday, with profit topping consensus expectations, sending its share price more than 7% higher in extended and premarket trading.

The electric vehicle company reported earnings of $1.19 per share on revenue of $24.32 billion. Analysts expected earnings to come in at $1.13 per share on revenue of $24.16 billion.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk stated that recent price cuts have increased demand and that the company could produce 2 million cars this year. In a shareholder deck, Tesla also said that average prices have “generally been on a downward trajectory for many years” and that “affordability” is required for Tesla to grow and sell multiple millions of cars per year.

Tesla to Expand Nevada Gigafactory

Earlier in the day Wednesday, Tesla announced that it is investing a further $3.6 billion in its Nevada Gigafactory.

In a blog post, the electric vehicle giant said it is making the investment to continue growing the Gigafactory, adding 3,000 new team members and two new factories to the site.

The two factories will include a 100 GWh 4680 cell factory with the capacity to produce enough batteries for 1.5 million light-duty vehicles annually), and the company's first high-volume Semi factory.

The Semi is Tesla's fully electric combination truck, with 500 miles of range and energy consumption of fewer than 2 KWh per mile.

In a tweet, Tesla also said it will add 4 million square feet of new manufacturing footprint.

Tesla's Nevada Gigafavtory was its first, with the company making an initial $3.5 billion investment in 2014. It now has five, with three in the US, one in Europe, and one in China.