What happened
Shareholders in electric vehicle (EV) company Fisker (FSRN 12.68%) enjoyed a more than 50% gain in the last week. On Monday, however, shares dropped as much as 11%, and remained down 9.3% as of 10:50 a.m. EST.
So what
Last week was eventful for Fisker after it announced a new partnership with technology company Foxconn with plans to manufacture at least 250,000 electric vehicles annually. A day later, Fisker announced in its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 earnings, reporting that it now has 12,467 reservations for its upcoming electric Ocean SUV, with the daily reservation rate up 400% since mid-October 2020.
Today's drop comes after a report from industry news site electrek highlighted an interview with Fisker chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker last week, where he said the company has abandoned its plans to develop solid-state batteries for EVs.
Fisker Ocean electric SUV. Image source: Fisker.
Now what
Fisker had previously said it planned to develop solid-state battery technology to provide a range of 500 miles and a fast, one-minute charging time. But in an interview with The Verge last week, Henrik Fisker said that after several years of research and progress, "it was much more difficult than we had predicted and expected." Fisker went on to say the company has "completely dropped solid-state batteries at this point in time."
Investors haven't been wholly counting on the company developing that technology for future success. Today's drop is likely also some profit taking after such a sharp increase last week. The development and rollout of the Ocean SUV, due by the end of 2022, is where investor focus really should remain.
