Nikola Corp. (NKLA) shares powered higher Thursday trading after the electric truckmaker said production of its flagship Tre BEV vehicles kicked-off earlier this week in Arizona.
Nikola, which has said it expects to deliver up to 500 of its Tre BEV trucks by the end of the year, alongside revenues of between $90 million and $150 million, said in a Securities and Exchange Commission filing late Wednesday that north American production began on March 21, and expects to begin making trucks for the European market from its German manufacturing base in June of next year, based on presentations at its investor day event yesterday in Phoenix.
Nikola reached an agreement last year with Germany's Bosch to build Bosch-designed fuel-cell power modules at its facility in Coolidge, Arizona, that will be used in the Tre Bev and US Nikola Two fuel-cell applications. The companies said the fuel cells are expected to launch in 2023 and could give the Class 8 regional-haul Nikola Tre FCEV a range of around 500 miles.
"Nikola continues to emphasize its industry-leading BEV range, noting that most EVs fall short of specs in real- world conditions (heat, cold, hills)," said D.A. Davidson analyst Michael Shlisky, who carries a 'neutral' rating with an $8 price target on the stock and attended the presentation.
"We got the sense that Nikola has learned a few lessons from other EV companies looking to ramp-up production. Management acknowledged that it is a long way from -65% gross margins at the start, and battery-cell prices surely aren't helping," he added. "That said, Nikola is in touch with suppliers on a daily basis and is continuously discussing and locking-in pricing as volumes rise."
Nikola shares were marked 9% higher in early Thursday trading to change hands at $9.95 each, a level that would value the group at around $4.2 billion.
Late last year, Nikola said it reached an agreement to settle fraud charges levied by the SEC, linked to Nikola's then-projected cash flows and planned use of proceeds from an earlier capital raising under former CEO Trevor Milton, for around $125 million.
The U.S. Justice Department said in late August that former Nikola CEO -- who founded the company in 2014 -- will face securities fraud charges as a result of allegations that he made fraudulent statements about the electric truckmaker's product and technology development between November 2019 and September 2020.
Nikola also worked with the SEC to look into allegations of fraud raised by short seller Hindenburg research in September of last year.
