What happened
To put it mildly, autonomous truck company TuSimple Holdings (TSP) has had a bad time of it this year. That was compounded on Tuesday, when it published an earnings report that many investors found rather displeasing. As a result, TuSimple stock simply plunged on the day, falling by nearly 5%.
So what
For its third quarter, TuSimple recorded revenue of just over $2.65 million, which was substantially more than the $1.79 million it posted in the same quarter of 2021. It attributed the improvement to the "increased utilization of our existing assets," combined with price increases.
The company was more consistent on the bottom line in recording a deep net loss; this amounted to $113 million, or $0.50 per share, not much narrower than the year-ago deficit of $115 million.
In terms of operational metrics, the reservation numbers for its trucks were flat across that stretch of time, at 7,485.
Now what
TuSimple investors needed some good news about their company, and with the deep-in-the-red bottom-line number in the earnings report they didn't get any.
On Monday, TuSimple's board of directors removed CEO Xiaodi Hou. This came on the heels of legal concerns; a clutch of government agencies are investigating allegations that the company failed to disclose that it shared protected technology. TuSimple is currently searching for a permanent replacement to lead the company.
And that wasn't long after an automobile guided by the company's self-driving technology had an embarrassing accident in Arizona.
Times are tough for TuSimple just now, and until there are indications that its ride is getting smoother, investors will likely continue to be bearish on its stock.
