Lordstown Motors (RIDE) reported widening losses Wednesday as well as progress on an electric pickup truck and a new van, after a short seller accused it of misleading investors. RIDE stock fell.
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Lordstown Earnings Report
Per-share losses widened to 23 cents in Q4 from 10 cents a year ago on zero revenue, while operating costs and expenses shot up to $38.6 million from $7.1 million. No reliable Q4 estimates are available for the pre-revenue company. For all of 2020, per-share losses ballooned to $1.04 from 15 cents a year earlier.
Lordstown said its Endurance full-size pickup will start production in September, with the first beta vehicles to be ready by the end of March for testing.
Management also said it’s accelerating the development of a second vehicle, a van, and will start production in the second half of 2022, with an unveiling of a demonstration vehicle this summer.
Lordstown sees 2021 capital expenditures of $250 million-$275 million. That includes money to build factory capacity to be able to produce 60,000 vehicles per year due to “greater Endurance interest than originally expected,” development of the new van, as well as additional tools and higher supply chain costs related to Covid-19.
Lordstown has estimated a $65 billion fleet pickup market and says the Endurance offers 25% lower cost of ownership vs. a traditional gas or diesel truck. In investor presentations, Lordstown touted 100,000 preorders for the Endurance electric truck, with 580 units per order on average.
But on March 12, Hindenburg Research accused Lordstown of “largely fictitious” orders. The short seller had earlier targeted Nikola (NKLA) and China’s Kandi (KNDI).
Lordstown CEO Steve Burns told the Wall Street Journal last week that the short-seller report held half-truths and lies. The company has said it will offer a fuller rebuttal later. Lordstown also said that it had made clear that its orders were nonbinding.
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RIDE Stock
Shares fell 0.3% after closing down 0.85% at 15.09 in Thursday’s stock market trading. RIDE stock remains below the 50-day line and 200-day line after the short-seller report. GM, which has a 5% stake in the company, jumped 5%. And Workhorse Group (WKHS), which had a 10% stake, added 1.4%.
Lordstown enters a competitive market, with GM, Tesla (TSLA), Ford (F), Amazon (AMZN)-backed Rivian and Canoo (GOEV) also launching electric pickups in the next one to three years.
But the company said in a January presentation that it will be “first to market” with its truck and calls its September delivery target “materially ahead of peers’ (more expensive) offering.”
According to CEO Burns, “The unique thing about this vehicle — it’s electric but it also has true four-wheel drive. The motors are in the wheels.”
RIDE stock came public in October after completing its merger with a special purpose acquisition company.
After its founding, Lordstown bought an old GM plant in Lordstown, Ohio, in November 2019. GM also supplies key parts for the Endurance EV, which Lordstown says saves design time and costs to certify.
Find Aparna Narayanan on Twitter at @IBD_Aparna.
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