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Tesla said Wednesday it posted a $3.3 billion profit in the first three months of the year, up from $438 million a year earlier and the company’s biggest quarterly profit since its founding. However, the company also said it expects its factories to operate below capacity for the remainder of 2022.

The electric car maker said its revenue in the first quarter reached $18.8 billion, up from $10.4 billion a year ago. Profit significantly exceeded investor expectations.

Tesla was the fastest-growing major automaker last year, nearly doubling its sales to nearly a million vehicles as the industry as a whole collapsed. new factories nearby Austin, Texasand the Berlin company is positioning that growth to repeat this year if it can overcome some serious challenges.

These include: semiconductor shortage bothering automakers more than a year. Tesla also had to close its factory. Shanghai Due to China’s relentless attempts to contain the coronavirus. China accounted for a quarter of Tesla sales last year, and the Shanghai factory also exports cars to other countries in Asia and Europe.

Tesla said on Wednesday it is continuing “limited production” in Shanghai after a three-week shutdown. However, it warned that it continues to face “permanent” supply chain problems and rising raw material costs.

“Our own factories have been operating below capacity for several quarters, as the supply chain has become the main limiting factor that is likely to continue through the rest of 2022,” Tesla said in a statement.

Tesla CEO Elon Musk said in a conference call with investors and analysts on Wednesday that his “best guess” is that Tesla will produce 1.5 million cars this year and that the company will meet its annual sales growth target of 50 percent.

Analysts are worried that supply chain and manufacturing issues that Tesla better avoided last year than other automakers could hinder the company’s growth this year.

“A strong demand story for Tesla is marred by brutal production issues in China, as well as a Rubik’s cube supply chain that continues to haunt Tesla as well as the rest of the auto/tech industry,” said analysts at Wedbush Securities. Note to customers ahead of Tesla’s first quarter earnings announcement.

Mr Musk said rising prices for lithium are forcing the company to raise prices, potentially slowing the pace at which people switch to electric vehicles. Some lithium producers enjoy 90 percent profit margins, he added.

“Please can more people get into the lithium business?” said. “Do you like printing money? Then the lithium business is for you.”

Mr. Musk hinted that Tesla could become more involved in the raw materials supply chain, but did not say whether it would expand directly into mining metals such as lithium. We look at all raw materials and carefully,” he said. “We think we’ll be making some exciting announcements in the coming months.”

Tesla remains the largest battery-powered automaker to date. It sold 310,000 vehicles in the first three months of 2022, an increase of almost 70 percent from the previous year. But traditional automakers like Volkswagen, Ford Motor, and Hyundai Motor recognized the threat and began selling models that challenged Tesla’s dominance.

There’s also the risk of alienating some car buyers with Mr. Musk’s high-profile buyout offer. excitement. Some potential customers may applaud Mr. Musk as a free speech champion, but others may fear he’s opening Twitter to hate speech and misinformation.

Mr. Musk did not discuss and was not asked about his offer to buy Twitter during the call.