Nikola shares sink 26% after messy second quarter, CEO departure and news of a stock sale

Shares of electric truck maker Nikola fell more than 26% Friday after a complicated second-quarter report, news of a CEO departure and shareholder approval to issue new stock. Nikola said Friday its CEO, Michael Lohscheller, will step down effective immediately due to a “family health matter.” Nikola’s current board chair, former General Motors vice chairman Steve Girsky, will take over as CEO. Lohscheller will remain in an advisory capacity until the end of September to support the transition, Nikola said. The news came alongside Nikola’s second-quarter earnings report. Here are the key numbers, compared with Refinitiv consensus estimates:

• Loss per share: 20 cents vs. 22 cents
• Revenue: $15.36 million vs. $15.4 million

Nikola’s net loss for the quarter was $217.8 million, or 31 cents per share. That figure includes $77.8 million, or 11 cents per share, related to discontinued operations including the closure of the former Romeo Power battery-pack factory in California. Nikola acquired Romeo Power last year. A year ago, Nikola lost $173 million, or 41 cents per share. Aside from the discontinued operations, Nikola had no adjustments in the second quarter of 2023; on an adjusted basis, it lost 25 cents per share in the year-ago quarter. Revenue fell to $15.4 million from $18.1 million in the second quarter of 2022. Nikola on Thursday evening won approval from shareholders to issue new stock, which could double its total number of shares outstanding. It’s expected to raise additional cash later in the year. Meanwhile, it was able to raise $233.2 million in cash during the second quarter via sales of stock and some physical assets. It also took steps to reduce its cash consumption going forward. It had $226.7 million in cash on hand as of June 30, up from $121.1 million as of March 31. Nikola said in May that it would temporarily suspend production of its battery-electric truck while it reconfigured its production line to build both the battery-electric truck and a new longer-range version powered by a hydrogen fuel cell. It expects the new fuel-cell truck to be its primary product in the future, and plans to build the battery-electric version only when it has orders in hand. Nikola currently has orders for a total of 202 fuel-cell trucks for 18 fleet customers, it said earlier this week. Production of fuel-cell trucks for customers began on July 31, Nikola said, and the first deliveries are expected to happen in September. All of the 45 trucks it delivered to dealers during the second quarter were battery-electric models, Nikola said. Its dealers sold 66 of those to end customers during the period, the company’s best quarterly retail result yet. Nikola also provided updated guidance for the third quarter and the full year. It expects to deliver between 60 and 90 trucks in the third quarter, generating revenue between $18 million and $28 million. For the full year, Nikola now expects to deliver between 300 and 400 trucks, generating revenue between $100 million and $130 million, with total research and development expenses between $210 million and $220 million.