Tesla Inc. stock surged nearly 12% in after-hours trading Wednesday after the electric car maker beat analysts’ predictions for its fourth-quarter earnings.

For the quarter ending Dec. 31, Tesla booked revenue of $7.38 billion, up 2% over the same quarter last year. Profit declined, though, to $105 million or 56 cents a share from $140 million or 78 cents a share a year ago.

Adjusted for onetime items, earnings came in at $2.14 per share, compared with $2 per share a year ago. MarketWatch reported that analysts had expected adjusted earnings of $1.77 a share on sales of $7 billion.

Although the fourth-quarter results were positive, for the full year Tesla reported a net loss of $862 million, lower than the loss of $976 million in 2018. Annual revenue grew 14.5%, to $24.57 billion. The only decline in the business came from its solar division, which saw revenue drop from $1.55 billion to $1.53 billion in 2019.

Tesla ended the year with free cash flow up 11%, to $1.01 billion, but liabilities and accounts payable were also up. Accrued liability rose 38%, to $2.9 billion, while accounts payable rose 11%, to $3.7 billion.

The company delivered 367,500 vehicles in 2019 and was predicting delivery of more than 500,000 in 2020. It noted that it was ahead of schedule starting production of its Model Y SUV, with deliveries expected to start in March.

Looking forward, the company noted that vehicle supply would continue to grow following the first vehicles rolling out of its Shanghai plant in December. It was noted in an investor call, however, that Tesla’s profitability may take a hit in the first quarter from the impact of the Wuhan Novel Coronavirus in the Chinese market. Tesla is also moving forward with the development of its third factory in Berlin-Brandenburg, with the first deliveries expected in 2021.

“The company has the most impressive product road map out of any technology/auto vendor around … and will be a ‘game-changing’ driving force for the EV transformation over the next decade with Model 3 front and center,” Dan Ives of Wedbush Securities said in an investor note.

The market responded positively to the news, as Tesla shares jumped almost 12% in after-hours trading, to $648.50, the highest share price in the company’s history.

Photo: SAUD AL-OLAYAN/Flickr