What happened
Shares of most U.S.-based emerging electric-vehicle companies were down sharply on Tuesday, amid a resurgence of coronavirus concerns and after a mixed-bag earnings report from category leader Tesla (TSLA 2.31%) on Monday night.
Nearly all of the stocks in the group were trading lower on Tuesday afternoon. Here's where things stood for some of the more newsworthy names as of 2 p.m. EDT, relative to their closing prices on Monday.
- Faraday Future (FFIE 1.38%) was down about 23.6%.
- Lordstown Motors (RIDE 17.39%) was down about 8.2%.
- Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) was down about 4.8%.
- Nikola (NKLA +0.00%) was down about 5.1%.
So what
Tesla's second-quarter profit and revenue beat Wall Street expectations, but some of the deeper details weren't so positive. The company said that production of two of its upcoming products, the Semi and the Cybertruck, is unlikely to begin before next year as the company continues to work through problems with manufacturing the new 4680 battery cells that both vehicles require.
That news isn't terribly surprising, and it may not mean much for Tesla's longer-term prospects. But it was enough to dampen an early morning rally in Tesla's shares, which were down about 2.9% as of 2 p.m. EDT -- and it may have added to pressure on shares of the up-and-coming electric-vehicle makers hoping to follow in Tesla's footsteps.
That said, there were some small news items of note from three of our four companies.
- Faraday Future said on Tuesday that it has now taken orders and deposits for all 300 of its first-series FF 91 Futurist Alliance Edition, a special limited version of its upcoming FF 91 luxury vehicle that is expected to cost about $180,000. The company has a total of about about 14,000 reservations for all versions of the FF 91. Faraday raised about $1 billion from its merger with special-purpose acquisition company (SPAC) Property Solutions Acquisition, which closed earlier this month.
- Lordstown Motors said in a regulatory filing on Monday that it has entered into an agreement to sell $400 million in stock over three years to a fund administered by Yorkville Advisors. A company spokesperson told The Motley Fool that Lordstown is seeking additional financing and confirmed that it still plans to begin production of its Endurance electric pickup truck by the end of September.
- Lucid's shares made their debut on Monday after the company completed its own SPAC merger last week. Lucid is on track to begin deliveries of its own luxury vehicle, the Air sedan, by the end of 2021, and it said last week that it will accelerate a planned factory expansion to meet increasing demand.
A Lordstown Motors spokesperson confirmed on Monday that the embattled company still expects to begin production of its Endurance electric pickup by the end of September. Image source: Lordstown Motors.
Now what
Auto investors probably won't have to wait long for updates from the management teams at these companies, as second-quarter earnings reports loom. Nikola has confirmed that it will report its second-quarter earnings before the U.S. markets open on Aug. 3; the others have yet to announce dates.
