Tesla Motors ($TSLA) is having a good day on Wall Street. It beat earnings expectations and posted its first-ever profitable quarter and is now considered the second most valuable carmaker in the world.

That's right: after 10 years in business that has been made complex by production challenges and a changing automotive market, Tesla just posted a $386 million profit for the final quarter of 2019.

The company is in a period of absolute growth, with a new factory in China, a new affordable SUB called the Model Y and plans to launch a new factory in Germany.

Tesla's stock performance tracks almost directly with its hiring activity:

Indeed, hiring data shows that Tesla is fired up on its growth, with a distinct focus on growing its manufacturing workforce while expanding its customer-facing corps.

As of last week, Tesla listed more than 800 openings for its "Service & Energy Installation" division, which includes customer-facing Tesla car service managers and technicians who are slated with helping current and future customers with their cars. Sales & Customer support openings have also seen clear growth along with the aforementioned Manufacturing jobs.

Meanwhile, the company's "Engineering & Information Technology" division is showing a hiring pickup, with openings for that division moving from just over 300 to more than 500 in the past quarter.

Hiring for Tesla's new China operation has seen some of the steepest growth, with openings growing from 342 to nearly 700 in the past quarter alone — a 78% growth clip from October 1 to January 1. The company has already begun delivering cars in China, although fears related to the coronavirus have recently forced the Tesla China factory to shutter temporarily.

About the Data:

Thinknum tracks companies using the information they post online - jobs, social and web traffic, product sales, and app ratings - and creates data sets that measure factors like hiring, revenue, and foot traffic. Data sets may not be fully comprehensive (they only account for what is available on the web), but they can be used to gauge performance factors like staffing and sales. 

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