Tech firm Tesla has shocked investors by driving into the black with its latest results. Elon Musk’s firm has posted its first quarterly profit in nine months with earnings of $143 million in the three months to September. The news sent shares rocketing 17% to $297.57 despite the firm’s $1.1 bn loss in the first half of the year. So, can the car-maker step it up another gear or has its growth stalled for now? Despite its critics, Tesla cars have built up a firm following – the manufacturers Model 3 was the UK’s third best-selling car in August. Some see the way that sales of the Model 3 have gathered speed, combined with these results, as the dawn of a new era for Tesla and many analysts have raised their price target. Others however remain sceptical saying that the details on the improvement are limited and the improvement could be largely down to cost-cutting.

Royal Bank of Scotland has seen its share price plummet after its much awaited Q3 earnings fell short of expectations. The banks announced a pre-tax loss of £8m in the three months to the end of September, which compared to its £961m profit in the same period last year is not great news for investors. Brexit uncertainty and the last-minute August deadline for PPI claims have hit the bank hard and its share price was down 3% in early trading to 225.90p at the time of writing. So, can investors bank on an upswing or is RBS likely to stay in the red? Analysts are undecided – the bank undoubtedly has challenges to face over the next 12 months but there are some positives on the pile. On the plus side, RBS has a massive capital surplus and it has started paying dividends for the first time since 2008, with a prospective yield of 7.4%. However, low interest rates and the current mortgage market will be challenging, and a no-deal Brexit will hit profits hard. Much will depend on how new CEO Alison Rose rises to the challenges ahead and how successful she is at unwinding the Government’s 62% shareholding of the bank.

Insurance group, Prudential has lost out after its split from UK asset management division M & G, with share prices falling 10% when the de-merger happened. Its share price fell to 1,441p at the time of writing and analysts at Deutsche Bank slashed its target price to 1,450p and downgraded its rating to ‘hold.’ M & G were branded as ‘unexciting’ before the split by the analysts, but they also said that the asset management firm’s shares offer ‘surprisingly compelling value’ and set an initial target price of 300p. After a flurry of early trading from investors who were handed a share in M & G for every Prudential share, they owned, M & G shares now stand at 204p. Most analysts agreed this could be an attractive entry point for the stock, unexciting or not. Not everyone agreed that the split was bad news for Prudential though – some think that its new focus on high-growth markets such as the US and Asia could still lead to potential gains for the now slimmed-down insurer.