Shares of Fisker (FSRN -6.18%) were going in reverse today after the electric vehicle start-up missed analyst estimates and cut its production forecast for the year.
As a result, the stock finished today's session down 18.7%.
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Real revenue, but not enough
In the third quarter, Fisker produced 4,725 vehicles and delivered 1,097. That resulted in $71.8 million in revenue, which was well short of the consensus at $109 million. The discrepancy between production and deliveries seemed to be due to logistical challenges with deliveries, not a function of demand.
On the bottom line, the company reported a net loss of $91 million, or $0.27 per share, which was worse than estimates at a loss of $0.19 per share. It also reported an operating cash flow loss of $308.2 million as it accumulated inventory in the quarter.
The company said that it had delivered more than 1,200 vehicles in October, indicating that the pace of deliveries was heating up in the fourth quarter.
CEO Henrik Fisker said, "We are pleased to hear the excitement and positive reviews from our early adopter customers, and at the same time we are also incorporating feedback for areas of improvement."
Watch out for falling guidance
The biggest reason for today's sell-off seems to be management's decision to cut its production guidance for the year from 20,000 vehicles to 13,000-17,000, which it said was a prudent decision, considering the logistical challenges it's facing and its cash burn rate.
Still, the quarter represents an important milestone for Fisker, given it recorded meaningful revenue, and its gross margin, while still negative at -17%, is better than both Rivian and Lucid, showing that its cost structure may give it an advantage over its two start-up rivals.
The company should eventually work out the delivery kinks as well, so the weak delivery numbers seem like a bad reason to sell the stock. Investors shouldn't rush to judgment on the production cut. It will take at least a few quarters of results for investors to see where the business is headed now that it's moved past the development stage.
