According to foreign media reports, U.S. truck manufacturer Nikola Motor announced last week that it would lay off 135 employees.
Although the company delivered 88 fuel cell trucks in the third quarter, it still struggled to achieve profit, so the company’s stock price continued to fall.
Although Nikola was the only manufacturer to put fuel cell trucks on the market during the last quarter, its financial situation was terrible.
Prior to this round of layoffs, Nikola laid off 100 people in November 2022 and 270 people in June 2023.
At the end of 2023, former Nikola CEO Trevor Milton was also sentenced to prison for fraud.
In addition to layoffs, another sign that Nikola is in trouble comes from its stock price, which is currently the third-highest short-selling stock on Wall Street, with a short-selling rate of 29%.
, Photo source: Nikola,Nikola has carried out a reverse stock split in June this year, hoping to maintain its listing status on Nasdaq by raising its share price, because Nasdaq requires its share price to reach at least US$1 for 30 consecutive days to maintain listing.
Before the split, the stock was trading at 30 cents per share.
, Nikola’s share price briefly rose nearly 20% after announcing delivery of 88 fuel cell trucks in the previous quarter, but fell another 6.
5% the next day.
For most of that time, the stock’s share price has been falling.
Foreign media estimates that Nikola’s manufacturing costs per truck exceed US$1 million, while revenue is only US$380,000.
Obviously, this is not a sustainable business model.
Nikola’s move to sell and lease back its Phoenix headquarters has also injected much-needed short-term capital into the company, but could cost the company heavily in the long run.
In the second quarter of this year, Nikola lost more than $133 million, but maintained a more positive attitude due to increased sales.
“We expect our revenue to grow as model sales increase,” the company said in a press release.
Despite constant setbacks, Nikola CEO Stephen Girsky remains positive about the company’s future.
He said: “Despite the poor overall market conditions, Nikola will remain focused on our mission of creating solutions for a zero-emissions world, and we are gradually achieving this goal.
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