Elon Musk may be in the news for his potential bid to buy Twitter. And that could be a doozy of a conversation if he succeeds. But there’s other news he recently shared regarding his little company called Tesla. And it could be even bigger than the Twitter buyout. 

The quarterly earnings are officially public, and the outlook appears stellar for the leading EV brand. But there’s something behind the numbers pointing to even more impressive news. Elon Musk offered insights on Twitter too. The CEO has officially reminded the world just how special Tesla is. It goes beyond posting record-breaking earnings and suggests Musk and his EV maker have reached a level of brand recognition and awareness that no other car company has achieved.

Tesla’s Q1 report is impressive when you get into the numbers

Tesla just released its official first-quarter earnings. And as CNBC reports, there are record margins in Q1 to the tune of $18.76 billion, a massive win for Musk and the Tesla team. The EV maker also outperformed analysts’ expectations with $3.22 earnings per share, demonstrating that Tesla continues to beat the odds and redefine the projections. In addition, Elon Musk should give himself another pat on the back because the company also hit record automotive margins at 32.9%.

If that’s not impressive enough, there’s another detail if you look closely at page 8 of Tesla’s report. A chart labeled “Tesla Vehicle Gross Orders in the US — Super Bowl Effect” points to the company’s performance before and after the Super Bowl. For most companies, these metrics matter because brands invest millions in advertising during the big game. And there are trackable bottom-line results based on that ad spend.

Here’s the kicker about the spikes in that post-Super Bowl graph for Tesla: Elon Musk didn’t spend a dime on ads and still tracked serious production growth.

Elon Musk points out that when other EVs advertise, Tesla wins

In a recent post on Twitter, Gary Black offered his take on the surge in Tesla’s success post-Super Bowl. He, too, must have read page 8. The day after the big game, Tesla orders jumped, not because Musk spent money on game-day ads, but because he’s riding the wave of competing EV companies’ ads. When other automakers promote their EVs, Tesla wins.

Musk replied to Black’s tweet with a brief yet powerful statement:

“$1T valuation with $0 advertising spend.”

As the revolutionary leader in EV technology, Tesla possesses something more inherently special. And despite competitors’ attempts to out-advertise one another, consumers always seem to find their way back to the one brand that started it all. In a way, Tesla is the OG of EVs, and that reputation will only solidify its continued success as an automaker.

The EV maker’s pulse check shows Elon Musk’s company is healthy

The recently released earnings statement suggests Tesla is on a healthy growth trajectory. And even if Elon Musk finds himself catching criticism for other things, such as his latest TEDx Talk and bid for Twitter ownership, Tesla isn’t adversely affected. In fact, Musk in the news — including any good, bad, and ugly press — is still good press that reminds people of his flagship, Tesla. And who needs to advertise when you get as much free press as Musk?

The numbers are in, and the outlook is excellent for his company. And when you realize the record earnings, production, and sales milestones are a reality without traditional advertising, you know Tesla is special.