Tesla soars 17% on Musk pact, production

Shares of Tesla rose 17 percent on Monday as founder and Chief Executive Elon Musk settled a lawsuit from federal regulators and a report said the company has hit its quarterly production targets.

The electric-car maker cranked out 80,000 vehicles during its third quarter, pushing out the final 2,000 during a two-day blitz over the weekend, according to Electrek, an auto news site.

The total included 53,000 Model 3 sedans — hitting the middle of its earlier promise to deliver between 50,000 and 55,000, the site said. Tesla is expected to give an update on its car production as soon as Tuesday.

Tesla shares plunged last week after the Securities and Exchange Commission accused Musk of securities fraud over his now-infamous “funding secured” tweet in August, which falsely claimed he’d lined up backing to take Tesla private.

Under the settlement, Tesla and Musk will pay $20 million each to the securities regulator and Musk will step down as chairman but remain as CEO.

“We believe Musk’s settlement with the SEC is positive for all stakeholders and should allow TSLA to return its focus to producing quality cars,” Baird analyst Ben Kallo said. Shares rose $45.93, to $310.70. Musk, whose tweets on Aug. 7 on a plan to take Tesla private that was later abandoned, has tweeted only once since the settlement was an- nounced — posting a music video by rap group Naughty by Nature.

As part of the settlement, Tesla will appoint an independent chairman, two independent directors, and a board committee to set controls over Musk’s communications.

“The new independent chairman and board members should dramatically improve corporate governance and widen the pool of potential investors,” Kallo said.