Nikola Motor Company
Source: Nikola Motor Company
Nikola on Thursday reported second-quarter earnings that beat Wall Street expectations after delivering 48 heavy-duty electric trucks. The company also reported a smaller-than-expected loss for the period.
Here’s what the company reported compared to what Wall Street expected, based on a survey of analysts by Refinitiv:
- Income: $18.1 million, versus $16.5 million expected.
- Adjusted loss per share: 25 cents, versus an expected loss of 27 percent per share.
Nikola built 50 trucks during the second quarter, 48 of which were delivered to its dealers before the end of the quarter. All 50 of those trucks were battery-electric versions of his Three Semis. This was slightly lower than Nikola’s own forecast, which had called for between 50 and 60 deliveries in the period.
“The primary reason for our shipments coming in at the low end of our guidance range was caused by two weeks of production losses in the second quarter related to battery pack delivery delays from Romeo Power,” Chief Financial Officer Kim Brady said on the call. Nikola’s earnings.
Nikola announced an agreement to buy Romeo Power on Monday.
The company is in the process of ramping up production at its Arizona plant and said it expects to build trucks at a rate of five per shift by November.
Nikola confirmed its earlier guidance for 2022. It still expects to deliver between 300 and 500 battery-electric Tre trucks by the end of the year, and to finish testing prototypes of its next hydrogen fuel cell truck with two customers of the fleet, including Anheuser- Busch.
Nikola’s shares rose significantly after the news was released. The stock ended the day at $7.90, up about 6.3%.
Nikola still has plenty of cash. As of June 30, it had $529 million in cash and an additional $313 million remaining on its existing credit facility, for total liquidity of $842 million. This was up from $794 million in total liquidity at the end of the first quarter.
Separately, Nikola announced that it has selected locations for three hydrogen fueling stations in California, including one at the Port of Long Beach. The stations, which are expected to open in late 2023, will be used by Nikola’s future fuel cell trucks.
Nikola has had a busy week. After announcing the acquisition of Romeo Power for $144 million in stock, the company on Tuesday won shareholder approval to issue new shares. Nikola had spent two months working to get enough votes to overcome an objection from its disgraced founder, Trevor Milton.
Milton left Nikola in September 2020 amid allegations of fraud, but he remains the company’s largest shareholder with control over approximately 20% of its shares.
This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.
