Nikola Corp Fourth Quarter Results

Shares of Nikola Corp. took a hit on Thursday despite beating bottom-line expectations for the fourth quarter. Although revenue more than doubled, it fell short of forecasts.

Delivery Milestone

During the quarter, Nikola Corp. successfully delivered its first hydrogen fuel cell electric truck. A total of 35 trucks were delivered, resulting in no finished goods left in inventory.

Market Demand

Chief Executive Steve Girsky highlighted the high demand for their fuel cell truck in California, surpassing requests for all other truck manufacturers combined in both battery and hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks during the same period.

Stock Movement

Despite the positive quarterly results, the stock (NKLA) experienced a 1.1% drop in morning trading. Since December 5, it has consistently closed below the $1 level every session.

Industry Trends

The decline in Nikola Corp. shares mirrored the losses seen in other electric vehicle makers following their earnings reports. Rivian Automotive Inc. saw a steep 23.5% drop, while Lucid Group Inc. shares fell by 9.3%. Tesla Inc., the EV leader, also experienced a 0.9% decrease in stock value.

Also read: EV maker Nikola rejects convicted founder Trevor Milton’s plan to add 5 board members.

Fourth Quarter Financial Results

For the quarter ending on December 31, net losses decreased to $153.6 million, or 14 cents per share, compared to $222.1 million, or 46 cents per share, in the same period the previous year.

Strong Performance Against Consensus

After excluding nonrecurring items, the adjusted per-share loss of 11 cents surpassed the FactSet loss consensus of 13 cents.

Revenue Growth and Production Numbers

Total revenue saw a significant increase of 111.1% to $11.53 million; however, it fell short of the FactSet consensus of $13.2 million. The number of trucks produced dropped to 42 from 133, while the number shipped rose to 35 from 20.

Recall Update and Future Plans

In relation to the truck recall announced in August 2023 for a battery issue, the company confirmed that it is on schedule to provide the first "re-worked" battery-electric trucks with new battery packs to users by the end of the first quarter. CEO Girsky expressed confidence that all trucks will be returned to end-user fleets by the end of the second quarter or early in the third quarter.

Stock Performance

The stock experienced a decline of 26.1% over the past three months, contrasting with the Global X Autonomous & Electric Vehicles ETF DRIV which gained 3.6% and the S&P 500 index SPX which advanced 10.7%.