What happened
Electric semi truck company Nikola (NKLA 5.22%) has had a turbulent young life. But at its presentation for analysts held yesterday, an announcement gave investors reason to get into its beaten-down stock. Shares popped nearly 20% early Thursday morning, and held gains of 9.1% as of 10:17 a.m. ET.
So what
Last year, Nikola founder and former chairman Trevor Milton was ousted and has since been indicted on fraud charges. The company has distanced itself from that situation, but investors have long memories, and reestablishing trust is hard. Now Nikola has started commercial production, giving investors concrete evidence that its plans for battery and fuel-cell electric trucks are real.
Nikola began commercial production on its Tre BEV on Monday. Image source: Nikola.
CEO Mark Russell previously told investors the company planned to begin production on March 21, and the company made good on that promise with its Tre battery electric vehicle (BEV) production beginning on Monday.
Now what
The company has already been testing its BEV and fuel cell electric vehicle (FCEV) products with potential customers, including Anheuser-Busch InBev. The company plans to start commercial deliveries of its Tre BEV to U.S. customers during the second quarter. It also said it will begin sales in Europe by the third quarter of 2023.
In its presentation to analysts, Nikola reiterated that it plans to deliver between 300 and 500 Tre BEVs to customers in 2022, which the company said would generate revenue of between $90 million and $150 million. After the stock had recently been hovering near its all-time lows under $7 per share, investors are feeling like it might be time to take a chance on this electric vehicle start-up.
