Tesla Crushes Q3 2020 Earnings With $800 Million Profit 

"The third quarter of 2020 was a record quarter on many levels. Over the past four quarters, we generated over $1.9B of free cash flow while spending $2.4B on new production capacity, service centres, Supercharging locations and other capital investments. While we took additional SBC expense in Q3, our GAAP operating margin reached 9.2%," Tesla said in its shareholder letter. 

Importantly for Tesla, this means it has even more cash on hand. It has $14.5 billion in cash and now its operating margin has reached 6.3 per cent which is an improvement over last year. Tesla expects its margins to improve - so much so that it may hit an industry-leading peak. 

With increasing competition in the EV space, Musk has also ramped up profitability 

"For the trailing 12 months, we achieved an operating margin of 6.3%. We expect our operating margin will continue to grow over time, ultimately reaching industry-leading levels with capacity expansion and localization plans underway," the company elaborated. 

This news comes at a time when Tesla has announced plans to introduce tabless batteries which will make its vehicles more efficient and affordable. It also comes at a time when the company is pulling back on many initiatives like warranties and return policies which initially lured many customers.