The last three months have been a rollercoaster ride for the electric car company, whose boss Mr Musk spiralled out of control and has faced a litany of legal woes.
Tesla posted a profit of $312million (£242million) in the last three months – beating analysts’ gloomy predictions, as the mid-priced Tesla model 3 was the fifth best-selling passenger car in America, according to industry analyst Edmunds.
Over the same period, Mr Musk has been entangled in a series of well-publicised scandals which seem not to have affected his flagship company’s bottom line.
The American business magnate is currently facing a lawsuit from a British diver involved in the successful rescue mission to save a group of Thai school children who were trapped in an underground cave.
Mr Musk called the diver, Vernon Unsworth, a “pedo” when he labelled Mr Musk’s unsolicited attempt to assist the rescue mission with a “mini-sub” a PR stunt.
The American serial entrepreneur went on to dig himself an even bigger hole when he referred to Mr Unsworth as a “child rapist” in leaked emails to BuzzFeed.
Mr Musk also smoked cannabis live on a radio show, and he and his company were fined by the US Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) following a tweet in which the business magnate claimed to have secured funding to take Tesla private.
Jeremy Acevedo, manager of industry analysis at Edmunds, told The Guardian: “The third quarter in many ways serves as Elon Musk’s redemption.
“You may not agree with his approach, but you can’t argue with the numbers.
“Between the SEC battle, controversial interviews and Twitter feuds, Elon’s antics hit a zenith in the third quarter.
“Yet Tesla managed to exceed production goals and the Model 3 outsold many of the most popular cars in America.
“Achieving profitability is a huge milestone, and one that even the most staunch Tesla sceptics would have to give them a little bit of kudos for.”
But Mr Acevedo explained issues still remained within Tesla.
Donald Trump’s ongoing trade spat – which threatens to escalate into a full-scale trade war – would impede Tesla’s growth in China, a key emerging market for the electric vehicle sector.
The Edmunds analyst also dismissed Mr Musk’s plans to get the cost of his Model 3 down to the targeted $35,000 (£27,000) as pure “fantasy”.