Nikola Corp mentioned points hitting demand are usually not anticipated to ease within the close to future after it delivered fewer than a sixth of the battery-powered trucks it made within the fourth quarter, sending its shares down as a lot as 9% on Thursday.
The Phoenix, Arizona based mostly EV startup, which has ambitions to deliver to market the primary hydrogen-powered heavy-duty trucks later this yr, noticed its money reserves dwindle within the quarter and in addition forecast 2023 gross margins deep within the pink.
Nikola executives painted a dire image on name with traders, noting the slower-than-expected uptake of battery-electric semi-trucks resulting from points together with an absence of a charging community.
“We do not consider these challenges will probably be abated anytime quickly,” Kim Brady, Nikola’s finance chief mentioned.
For the fourth quarter, it missed income targets by a large margin and reported swelling losses.
Nikola, like different smaller EV companies, is confronted with excessive manufacturing prices and provide bottlenecks in a time when demand has stalled amid rising inflation.
Tesla, which for years struggled to ramp manufacturing to a mass stage and went by a self-acknowledged “manufacturing hell,” has elevated its market share with just lately introduced value cuts.
Brady instructed traders Nikola could be higher off delivering fewer Tre BEVs to protect money and decrease losses. That mannequin has a most vary of as much as 330 miles.
Tesla, which delivered its first semi truck to PepsiCo PEP.O in December, is but to announce mileage vary however a PepsiCo official instructed Reuters their Semis could have a 500-mile vary.
Nikola mentioned within the fourth quarter it produced 133 trucks and delivered simply 20 of these to dealerships. It expects to ship between 250 and 350 Tre BEVs this yr, in contrast with 131 deliveries in 2022.
Nikola shares, which hit a report excessive of $94 in June 2020 days after it went public, had been buying and selling at $2.15 on Thursday. Shares of different EV makers together with Lucid Group Inc LCID.O had been additionally down sharply.
Lucid on Wednesday forecast 2023 manufacturing effectively wanting Road expectations and reported a serious drop in orders throughout the December quarter.
One other EV truck maker Lordstown Motors Corp RIDE.O additionally mentioned on Thursday it might quickly cease manufacturing and deliveries of its pickup truck due to efficiency and high quality points with some elements, sending its shares tumbling 11%.
It expects a detrimental gross margin of 75% to 95% for 2023. At its investor day presentation early final yr, the corporate had forecast a optimistic gross margin for the Tre BEV.
On the finish of December, Nikola had money and money equivalents of $233.4 million, down from $497.2 mln a yr earlier.
December quarter income of $6.6 million missed analysts’ estimates of $32.1 million from Refinitiv, and web loss widened to $222.1 million from $158.9 million a yr earlier.