Category: RIDE

Investors in the struggling electric vehicle manufacturer, Lordstown Motors, were hoping for a reversal of fortune, but unfortunately, it appears the company is headed for bankruptcy. Lordstown recently received a delisting notice from Nasdaq, and its stock has fallen to $.47, a significant decline from its 52-week high of $3.73. A reverse stock split is often the final effort of a publicly traded company that is struggling to survive. Lordstown’s market capitalization has dwindled to a mere $124 million.

Lordstown’s investors should have seen its demise coming. They were given a great deal of warning. In its most recently reported quarter, it lost $102 million on almost non-existent sales. A complex deal with Foxconn may have put $150 million. But Lordstown could burn through that in a few months.

Lordstown’s recent troubles began just before the release of its earnings report. It shuttered production and had a recall. The company’s initial attempts to establish a foothold in the electric vehicle market were unsuccessful, effectively preventing it from becoming a major player in the EV industry.

Lordstown made several mistakes before its final one. It priced its Endurance pick-up at $65,000. Before Ford jacked up prices on its F-150 Lightning, it was priced at about $40,000. The F-150 gas-powered version sells over 600,000 units a year. It has a built-in market of customers Lordstown could never have had. (These are America’s favorite pick-up trucks.)

The EV market had become more dynamic than it was when Lordstown announced the Endurance. Chevy and Ram are about to enter the EV pickup markets. EV vehicle sales leader Tesla will as well. Along with a market that is about to be flooded, there have been, and will be, brutal price cuts to grab market share. A $65,000 vehicle would never have had a chance. (These are the biggest electric vehicle business failures in American history.)

Lordstown’s success was always a long shot. Now, it is not a shot at all.

Lordstown Motors has dropped into the penny stock world. Its shares trade at $.64. They were $3.50 a year ago. It should not come as a shock. Lordstown has disintegrated financially.

Lordstown recently posted atrocious numbers for both the most recent quarter and most recent fiscal year. Its revenue for both the year and the quarter was $194,000. The annual loss was $387 million. For the quarter, it was $104 million. Part of the fourth quarter figure was asset impairment, which is never good for a manufacturing company.

Chinese manufacturer Foxconn has put money into Lordstown. The management said, “In Q4 2022, we expanded and strengthened our partnership with Foxconn. We converted our prior $100 million joint venture into a direct investment in Lordstown Motors of up to $170 million, $52 million of which was funded in November 2022.” However, some of the Foxconn money is dependent on meeting certain hurdles, which means future funding is in doubt.

If it survives long, Lordstown’s most significant problem is that it builds EV trucks, which have become a hugely competitive part of the electronic vehicle market. The base price of its Endurance is $65,000, a level too high for most pickup customers.

Lordstown has to face the launch of the Tesla Cybertruck, which should launch in a year. The base price is set at less than $40,000. (These are the cheapest electric vehicles you can buy.)

Ford’s F-150 Lightning represents Lordstown’s most significant competition, even though Ford has bumbled its launch. Ford has millions of gas-powered F-150s on the road, which means the Lightning has a bullet in target-market. GM will soon launch an EV version of its successful Silverado, which is usually the second best selling vehicle in America. Ram intends to do the same thing. (These are the most efficient cars on the market.)

Lordstown would need to raise hundreds of millions of dollars – if not more – to play in the market it has to, if it plans to be successful. And, that will not happen.

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Thesis

Many articles one reads nowadays in the financial news media seem to be taking massive sales of electric vehicles (EVs) as a given. Such fawning EV coverage is not due to mere hype, either; EV sales have been increasing exponentially for over a decade, per the International Energy Agency, and show no signs of slowing down. In fact, EV demand in the United States (US) looks particularly robust, and appears to be spiking. Battery electric vehicle (BEV) registrations were 3.1% of the US car market in 2021, but doubled to nearly 6% in 2022. What’s more, survey results by Deloitte show that 8% of Americans want their next car to be a BEV, higher than the current percentage of US BEV owners. For now, then, it is probably safe to say that demand for EVs in the US, and abroad, outpaces supply.

Yet Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ:RIDE) is not benefiting from this market trend. Lordstown is producing far fewer of its products than initially projected for the year, meaning reduced sales opportunities due to constrained supply. To add insult to injury, Lordstown recently announced a pause on production and deliveries and a recall of 19 vehicles, a large share of its vehicle fleet. With all the bad production news surrounding the company, demand not favoring its products, and competition ramping up, I believe it is unlikely Lordstown survives its production hell.

Lordstown’s Financials

Lordstown Motors Corporation had no revenue in 2020 and 2021, and only small amounts of revenue in 2022 when it began selling trucks. Operating income and operational cash flow are negative, though this is to be expected since the company hasn’t had a full year of product sales yet. Nevertheless, increasing losses are increasing losses. The last 3 full years of data, 2019-2021, do not paint a good picture. Operating income was a loss of just $15 million in 2019, $100 million in 2020, and nearly a whopping $400 million in 2021. Operational cash flow losses ballooned from less than $8 million in 2019 to about $100 million in 2020, which rose to almost $390 million in 2021. Net income isn’t comforting either, with losses of $15 million, $124 million, and over $400 million for 2019, 2020, and 2021, respectively. Despite these numbers, a silver lining is visible for Lordstown: its debts are only about $13 million, and its cash over $200 million, meaning it is unlikely to see a debt crisis precipitate its failure in the near future. But the cash alone does not remove the concern over the company’s widening losses.

Lordstown’s core business of selling vehicles is far from profitable, and the company is losing more money as it makes more vehicles. To be fair, though, it’s only just begun its journey as an automaker, with production of vehicles commencing in late 2022. Still, financials like this are poor, period, and they are why startups are considered such risky investments: if too much goes wrong at this stage, the company has no profitability to rely on.

Lordstown’s Valuation

To determine RIDE’s value, many measures like Price/Earnings and Price/Cash flow cannot capture it since the company is so early stage. No earnings, no cash flow. But some measures do remain, even at this stage of its life. The Price/Sales ratio appears to be ~100, while Price/Book is less than .6 at time of writing. Compared to the Consumer Discretionary sector averages of ~.9 and ~2.5, respectively, one can argue that RIDE is either incredibly overvalued, or incredibly undervalued. Looking at the valuation alone, one’s value judgement of RIDE may well depend on if one thinks a company’s sales or its book value is a more important measure of its worth compared to competitors.

For a startup, especially one that only just began selling a product a few quarters ago, valuing the business is a very difficult matter. How is one to really gauge the value of something whose future prospects are so difficult to know in the present? Since there is almost no operational track record on the company, RIDE’s valuation ironically has little value at this stage. The valuation today may reveal an early look into a good future or a bad one for a young firm; only time will tell. Unfortunately for Lordstown, its time may run out before we can know for sure.

Lordstown Faces Immense Competitive Pressure

Compared to EV demand rising in the US and abroad, Lordstown faces dismal sales and disappointing revenues. As a result, investors have been very displeased, selling RIDE stock and sending the price down by about 50% from a year ago at time of writing. Startups almost always begin life in poor financial circumstances until their businesses can make money on their own. This is less concerning in more favorable times, but a rising-rate environment at the end of a stock market bubble is a bad time for an unprofitable startup to be publicly listed and in need of capital. With Lordstown’s large downward production revisions, its pause on production and deliveries, and its recent recall of much of its fleet, the company appears to be facing an existential crisis, and looks far less likely to deliver products to customers than it anticipated.

As Lordstown faces these challenges, its competitors are ramping up production. This will exacerbate the demand problem by driving demand toward themselves and away from Lordstown. American legacy automaker Ford (F) is easily outselling the American startup, and is satisfying demand that may have otherwise gone to Lordstown. Ford sold 15 thousand F-150 Lightning trucks, directly competing with Lordstown’s EV trucks. As if this wasn’t enough, Rivian (RIVN), another EV startup and EV truck company, was able to nearly achieve its 2022 production guidance of 25 thousand vehicles, and delivered about 20 thousand vehicles, dealing another blow to Lordstown’s demand hopes in the truck market. While Rivian did cut its guidance in half from the beginning of 2022, its truck sales far outnumber Lordstown’s in any case, and its production cut of 50% is still far lower than Lordstown’s cut from 500 vehicles to about 30, a reduction of over 90%. And let us remember, even with Rivian’s cut to production guidance and Ford’s recent production woes, the thousands of EV trucks sold by Rivian and Ford compare to only 31 trucks produced by Lordstown, most of which have just been recalled.

Now to address the elephant in the room. Tesla, Inc. (TSLA) is still the dominant EV maker in the US, and is meeting most EV demand that exists in the country, allowing the company to maintain ~65% market share in 2022. Tesla was also the best-selling luxury vehicle brand in 2022, beating out the likes of Lexus and BMW, and was recently dubbed the brand with some of the highest customer loyalty in the industry (Tesla takes customer loyalty title from Ford, ending Dearborn automaker’s 12-year streak). As relevant to this article, Tesla has been planning its debut to the pickup market for some time, and has announced that it will finally begin deliveries of the Cybertruck this year. Considering Tesla’s track record of execution compared to Lordstown’s lack thereof, it seems possible that Tesla will sell more trucks than Lordstown produces by the end of 2023, despite Lordstown having started truck production almost a year earlier than Tesla. Assuming the Cybertruck receives a warm welcome from its +1 million reservation holders, as consumers have welcomed Tesla’s other vehicles, EV truck demand and consumer sentiment will be addressed, and at least partially satisfied, by Tesla for years to come, with a projected production rate of at least 100 thousand Cybertrucks per year within the next few years. Nevermind Tesla’s order backlog, the production rate alone will be detrimental to EV truck makers like Lordstown, especially if Lordstown can’t ramp up its own volumes and sales quickly enough. This is to say nothing of the scandal Lordstown has already courted that may have hurt its reputation as a trustworthy automaker.

To recap, despite increasing EV demand in the US and globally, Lordstown is in a poor position compared to its competitors, both legacy automakers and EV pure plays. If things don’t improve for the company soon, it will be at risk of bankruptcy or acquisition.

Is Lordstown Going to Make It?

If Lordstown Motors is unable to fix its demand problem, increase revenues and production, become profitable, and pay off its debts, it will be forced to seek capital to continue operations, or liquidate assets – or the entire company – to pay off what it may owe.

Frankly, I don’t like Lordstown’s odds. Unlike General Motors (GM), which received a hefty government bailout during the Great Financial Crisis, Lordstown has little visible comparable government support. Its $200 million market cap suggests limited investor support. Shockingly, it also displays nonexistent insider support, with insider selling consistently outpacing insider buying every year for the past 3 years. With its minute production and sales, ballooning losses, and increasing competition, Lordstown seems to have little hope in the long run, especially due to the added risks and expenses involved in using hub motors instead of conventional motors. Unappealing engineering choices like these, as well as general bad news and publicity, may mute consumer interest in Lordstown’s products. Meanwhile, investor interest in the company will further crater if it dares to go to market to raise what little capital it can and dilute current shareholders – regardless of whether raising capital is essential to propping itself up. Yet a capital raise is exactly what the company’s CEO has said it must pursue to produce its first 500 vehicles. Even a large cash pile and relatively low debt can’t smooth over all the wrinkles in the fabric of Lordstown’s growth story. Things simply do not look good for the company.

Risks to Thesis

While things look poor for Lordstown, the company can still turn it around given enough time. For the startups that succeed, the night is always darkest before the dawn. Tesla went through several years of heavy losses before it finally turned a profit, and it’s certainly possible this startup could follow suit as EVs take off. A slow-and-steady march toward profitability could upend the bearish future I see today for Lordstown. Should the company find ways to steadily stimulate organic demand for its vehicles and get around its production hurdles, it could improve its outlook immensely, and would indicate that my bearish sentiment is misplaced.

Another risk is that if the demand for EVs far outpaces supply to the point that even the clear mass producers like Tesla cannot make enough vehicles to satisfy it, over time impatient EV shoppers may consider opting for vehicles from currently unpopular EV makers, just to get their hands on any EV they can. In many respects, all EV cars and trucks have common features that internal combustion engine vehicles do not. Some consumers waiting for EVs from the big names might realize this, and may consider purchasing EVs from companies getting less attention and promising shorter wait times. This could give Lordstown a much-needed demand spike, and a chance to flex its production muscles.

Should either of these scenarios occur, the thesis would indeed be at risk. However, I am not certain such fortuitous circumstances will come to pass anytime soon.

Conclusion

In short, I believe that since Lordstown is facing severe production and demand problems, poor finances, and increasing competitive pressures, the company should be avoided by long term, long-focused investors at this time. As such, I would call RIDE a sell.

In case you missed it, embattled electric-truck start-up Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ:RIDE) said on Aug. 11 that it lost $108 million in the second quarter and that it had $366 million in cash remaining as of the end of June. 

But those numbers may have been the least interesting news in its earnings report. 

Lordstown has been reeling since the abrupt departure of its CEO and chief financial officer in June, following an investigation into allegations that they greatly exaggerated customer interest in the company’s upcoming electric pickup truck. Now it appears that the people they left behind are scrambling to figure out how to turn what remains of Lordstown into a viable business. 

Here are three things I took away from the company’s earnings report that have me thinking their chances of success aren’t good — and that electric-vehicle investors looking for a bargain might be wise to pass on Lordstown’s beaten-up shares.

It now looks likely that Lordstown’s electric Endurance pickup will be beaten to market by the (cheaper) Ford F-150 Lightning. Image source: Lordstown Motors.

Lordstown’s truck is still a long way from real production

“We are launching the Endurance with a prudent ramp of production given a challenging industry and supply chain landscape,” said Executive Chairwoman Angela Strand. “We are on track to begin limited production at the end of September and through the fourth quarter and complete vehicle validation and regulatory approvals in December and January.”

Lordstown has been saying for months that production of the Endurance will start in September. But “start of production” is a term of art in the auto industry, one that implies the start of production of vehicles that can be sold to customers. 

As Strand went on to explain, this is not that. 

“This will be followed by deployments with selected early customers in Q1 in advance of commercial deliveries in early Q2,” she said, “with the ramp steepening the second half of next year.”

In other words, the first trucks that are actually for sale won’t be delivered until the second quarter of 2022. What happens between now and then is properly termed “pre-production,” testing the assembly line and providing early trucks to potential fleet customers to evaluate, which is what Lordstown was supposed to have been doing over the past several months. 

The takeaway: The Endurance is not on schedule. Given that part of the bull case for Lordstown was that the company would beat the big automakers to market, and given that Ford Motor Company (NYSE:F) will have its less expensive and better equipped electric F-150 Lightning shipping by the second quarter and aimed squarely at Lordstown’s hoped-for commercial fleet customers, that’s a big problem for Lordstown.

Lordstown is scrambling to come up with a Plan B

One could argue that the good news is that Strand and Lordstown’s remaining executive team understand the problem: Demand for the Endurance isn’t likely to be, shall we say, robust. Remember, Lordstown admitted in a regulatory filing in June that it had “no binding purchase orders or commitments from customers” for the Endurance. None. 

The not-so-good news is that there’s no Plan B in place yet. But one option, which the company is exploring, is to try to convince others to rent part of the company’s factory, a sprawling facility that was once a big General Motors (NYSE:GM) plant. Alternatively, Strand said that the company could build other automakers’ electric vehicles under contract.

“We have seen the multiple opportunities that our manufacturing facilities in our large surrounding campus present to other companies that are seeking ready-to-go manufacturing capabilities for their products,” Strand said. “This is a significant market.”

Strand said that Lordstown is only using about 30% of the facility, and that it has held “serious discussions” with “several” unnamed potential partners about renting or leasing unused sections of the factory, and about building vehicles under contract.

“This is a critical strategic pivot for us, a decision that we believe will lead to significant new revenue opportunities for Lordstown,” Strand said.

I’d call it more of a Hail Mary. While I think it’s possible that the state of Ohio might be willing to offer incentives to anyone wanting to build electric vehicles at the Lordstown plant, I think it’s a long shot that any established automaker — or any well-funded start-up, for that matter — would be willing to put its future product in the hands of a company with Lordstown’s dubious track record to date. 

Investors aren’t breaking down the door to give Lordstown more money

We know that Lordstown needs more money. The company warned, probably at the insistence of its auditors, in a regulatory filing in June that it might not have enough cash to stay in business for another year. That warning, a so-called “going concern” notice from the auditors, was — or at least should have been — a wake-up call to auto investors. 

Lordstown still has some cash, about $366 million as of June 30. But it doesn’t look like deep-pocketed investors are beating a path to the company’s door. Lordstown did say last month that Yorkville Advisors, a company that specializes in distressed start-ups, has agreed to buy up to $400 million in Lordstown stock over the next few years at below-market prices. 

On one hand, it saves Lordstown the trouble of trying to do a proper secondary offering. On the other, Yorktown isn’t doing this because it plans to build a stake in Lordstown. It’s just planning to quickly resell the stock at market price, locking in a gain. 

It’s the kind of deal you make when you don’t have other options. But Strand tried her best to suggest otherwise, without actually saying so.

“The agreement [with Yorktown] was the first of what we believe will be several steps to ensure that the company has the financing it needs to succeed in profitability,” she said. “We are now exploring a variety of other financing options, including non-dilutive private strategic investments and debt.”

That’s almost word for word what a company spokesperson told me last month, which suggests to me that Lordstown hasn’t made progress on the funding front. That in turn suggests that if Lordstown can secure funding, it’s not likely to be on favorable terms. 

The upshot: This is now a salvage operation

Let’s sum up. 

• Lordstown had hoped to beat Ford to market, but it now won’t — and Ford is the long-established leader in the commercial-vehicle segment that Lordstown hopes to enter. 
• Lordstown’s leaders are hoping that someone with deep pockets will pay the company to do… something.
• Lordstown is short of cash, with no good funding options visible at present.

My bottom line: This is now a salvage operation, and salvage operations don’t deserve growth-company multiples. 

To be clear, I think that Strand and Lordstown’s president, Rich Schmidt, are doing their sincere best to clean up the mess that the company’s now-departed founder Steve Burns and CFO Julio Rodriguez left behind. And we should note that Lordstown does have some things of value, namely a factory, some tooling, and some cash in the bank. 

It’s still possible that there’s a business here. But I don’t think it’s likely to be a big business, and it will almost certainly need additional funding that could be dilutive of current shareholders. That makes me think that Lordstown’s stock is likely to fall even further from recent levels. Trade carefully.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

Today, embattled upstart electric vehicle (EV) company Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ:RIDE) is finally seeing some love. Shares of RIDE stock are more than 12% higher on a risk-on day for equities broadly.

Source: Postmodern Studio / Shutterstock.com

Indeed, it appears investors are taking a breather today from making bearish bets on various hypergrowth stocks. Once touted as one of the leaders in the EV pickup truck space, a number of drivers have taken this stock lower in recent months.

Bearish investors have been emboldened by short-seller attacks on RIDE stock. High-profile short-seller Hindeburg Research published a scathing report in March highlighting various issues with preorder data, along with undisclosed production hurdles. The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) followed up on these allegations, launching an investigation into Lordstown. Unsurprisingly, many investors have chosen to steer clear of this stock until the dust settles.

Additionally, rival Ford (NYSE:F) has recently unveiled its F-150 Lightning model. This electric version of the popular F-150 is expected to garner significant market share. Lordstown should have its pickup to market first. However, given Ford’s size and scale, investors aren’t so sure about that schedule any more. Accordingly, intense attention is being placed on Lordstown as the company races to get its pickup trucks and other EV models to market.

That said, let’s dive into why Lordstown is seeing impressive buying activity today.

Retail Investor Interest Driving RIDE Stock Higher

Among the key catalysts taking RIDE stock on a nice (dare we say it) ride today is some support from the r/WallStreetBets crowd.

A number of retail investors have pointed out that RIDE stock has seen a significant uptick in chatter. Currently, this stock is in the top 20 most discussed stocks on r/WallStreetBets. As an influential forum for retail traders and speculators, it’s possible Lordstown could be in the running as a short-squeeze candidate.

I mean, this thesis seems to hold water. Lordstown has become one of the most heavily shorted stocks in recent months. This is due, at least in part, to significant high-profile pressure on this company from Hindenburg and others. Given the company’s high short interest and low price per share, RIDE stock is well-positioned as a short-squeeze candidate.

Additionally, a key report last week noted that Lordstown is looking to start production of its EV pickup truck next month. For those concerned about the market share race that’s heating up, this is extremely good news.

Lordstown is projecting vehicle production at some point in September, with “vehicle validation and regulatory approvals in December and January.” This would put Lordstown on track to meet its previous production targets. This would also potentially discount some of the short-seller rhetoric weighing down this stock.

On the date of publication, Chris MacDonald did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.

What happened

Shares of embattled electric-pickup start-up Lordstown Motors (NASDAQ:RIDE) were trading lower on Friday after a Wall Street analyst drastically cut his bank’s price target for the stock following the company’s earnings report on Wednesday.

As of 12:30 p.m. EDT, Lordstown’s shares were down about 9.2%. 

So what

In a new note released on Thursday, RBC Capital analyst Joseph Spak cut his bank’s price target from a pessimistic $5 to a dismal $1 while maintaining an underperform rating on the shares.

Spak noted that while the company said that it was on track to “begin production” of its Endurance electric pickup in September, it also said that it won’t begin deliveries to customers until the second quarter of 2022. That means Lordstown’s first-mover advantage is “all but dissipated,” Spak wrote, given that giant Ford Motor Company plans to begin shipping its electric F-150 Lightning in the spring and General Motors is expected to follow with an electric Silverado pickup later in the year.

Spak thinks that Lordstown will need to raise “significant” capital to survive, and that “at least some [is] likely to be dilutive.” He said that he can’t recommend auto investors get involved with the stock “until a clearer strategic and financial picture emerge.” 

Will there be any buyers for Lordstown’s electric Endurance pickup? There might be a few, one analyst wrote, but not enough to matter unless something big changes. Image source: Lordstown Motors.

Now what

Spak also wrote that he now forecasts Lordstown’s annual deliveries peaking at just 7,500 in 2025. That’s a tiny number. For context, 7,500 pickups is about three or four days‘ worth of Ford F-Series deliveries during normal times. 

If we generously assume an average selling price of $60,000 for Lordstown’s trucks (the Endurance will start at $55,000), we’re looking at about $450 million in revenue in 2025. That’s not much for a company that has a market cap of more than twice that amount today. 

Long story short, I agree with Spak that unless something big changes — soon — it’s very hard to see how this works out well for Lordstown’s investors.

This article represents the opinion of the writer, who may disagree with the “official” recommendation position of a Motley Fool premium advisory service. We’re motley! Questioning an investing thesis — even one of our own — helps us all think critically about investing and make decisions that help us become smarter, happier, and richer.

• The shares of Lordstown Motors Corp (NASDAQ: RIDE) increased by over 13% during intraday trading. This is why it happened.

The shares of Lordstown Motors Corp (NASDAQ: RIDE) – a leader in electric light-duty trucks focused on the commercial fleet market – increased by over 13% during intraday trading. Investors are responding positively to the company’s second-quarter 2021 results. One of the highlights is that the company said it will begin limited vehicle production in late September.

Key Business Highlights

— Reported second quarter 2021 net loss of $108 million, capex of $121 million and cash of $366 million on June 30, 2021

— Beginning limited vehicle production in late September

— Lordstown plant is production-ready with retooling of stamping, assembly, body, and paint shops completed

— Battery line is fully commissioned and the first electric hub motor line has been site commissioned and is currently being installed

— Strengthened leadership is now unlocking the value of Lordstown Motors by introducing 5 strategic priorities to expand go forward commercial strategy

— The company recently secured an equity purchase agreement for access to $400 million in capital. Due diligence is now underway with multiple strategic partners that come with potential capital infusion as well as pursuing external capital sources including debt and equity-linked securities

2021 Objectives and Financial Outlook

— Lordstown is updating the financial outlook for 2021 that we previously provided with our first quarter 2021 earnings release. The revised guidance is as follows:

a.) Expected Endurance production in 2021 will be limited to coincide with the commercialization roadmap.

b.) Expected capital expenditures of between $375 and $400 million, largely related to prepayments for hard tool purchases.

c.) Expected operating expenses of between $95 and $105 million in selling, general and administrative (SG&A) costs and between $310 and $320 million in research and development (R&D) costs.

d.) Expected end of Q3 2021 liquidity of between $225 and $275 million in cash and cash equivalents without including any funds from a capital raise.

KEY QUOTES:

“In the second quarter, we continued to make great strides towards our objective of delivering a revolutionary electric pickup truck. This included completing retooling of several critical areas of our Lordstown facility and concluding our beta build program. Beta builds have successfully completed numerous independent third-party crash tests and are achieving the standard requirements to meet FVMSS and plan for a five-star crash rating. A particular highlight during the quarter was Lordstown Week. During this week-long period, we proudly opened our doors and showcased our great team and technology, demonstrating the capacity and flexibility of our plant, our capable team and our innovative technologies.”

“We are also evaluating potential strategic partners, with multiple industry participants recognizing the tremendous advantages available to them from utilizing our well situated, 6.2 million square foot manufacturing plant and 650 acre campus. The size and scope of our facility is such that we could easily accommodate additional manufacturing partners while still affording us the ability to build a successful Endurance program and leverage its skateboard for additional models in the years ahead.”

“We are launching the Endurance with a prudent ramp of production given a challenging industry and supply chain landscape. We are on track to begin limited production at the end of September and through the fourth quarter and complete vehicle validation and regulatory approvals in December and January. This will be followed by deployments with selected early customers in Q1 in advance of commercial deliveries in early Q2, with the ramp steepening the second half of next year.”

— Lordstown Motors’ Executive Chairwoman Angela Strand

Disclaimer: This content is intended for informational purposes. Before making any investment, you should do your own analysis. 

Wall Street remains worried about Lordstown Motors Corp. ‘s cash burn and production risks, with one analyst slashing his price target on the electric-vehicle maker’s stock to $1 and warning that the electric truck maker could run out of cash by year’s end.

Lordstown RIDE late Wednesday reported a wider quarterly loss than analysts expected, but the stock rallied as investors cheered the company’s promise to start “limited production” of its Endurance electric pickup truck by next month. The stock rose again on Thursday, chipping away at weekly losses of around 2%.

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