Posted on 09/21/2020 8:08:49 AM PDT by Red Badger
Key Points
Shares of Nikola slid roughly 30% in premarket trading Monday after company founder and Executive Chairman Trevor Milton resigned. They rebounded slightly and were down 20% in morning trading.
Stephen Girsky, a former vice chairman of General Motors and a member of Nikola’s board, has been appointed chairman of the board, effective immediately.
Milton’s departure follows the release of a report by short seller Hindenburg Research accusing him of making false statements about the company’s technology.
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Shares of Nikola opened Monday at their lowest price since the company went public June 4 after company founder and Executive Chairman Trevor Milton announced his resignation overnight.
The stock was down as much as 30% in premarket trading before opening at $24.97. The shares rebounded a bit after the open, trading down by 20% in morning trading.
Stephen Girsky, a former vice chairman of General Motors and a member of Nikola’s board, has been appointed chairman of the board, effective immediately.
Milton’s departure follows the release of a report by short seller Hindenburg Research accusing him of making false statements about the company’s technology to attract investors and partnerships with other automakers.
The report, titled “Nikola: How to Parlay an Ocean of Lies Into a Partnership With the Largest Auto OEM in America,” was released two days after the company announced a deal with GM that sent both companies’ shares soaring. It characterized Nikola as an “intricate fraud built on dozens of lies” by Milton.
The Securities and Exchange Commission and Department of Justice are reportedly looking into Hindenburg’s claims.
In a statement Monday, GM said it will “work with Nikola to close the transaction we announced nearly two weeks ago to seize the growth opportunities in broader markets” with its battery electric and fuel cell technologies. GM is also helping to engineer and and will build the Nikola Badger pickup.
“Nikola, Honda and other companies who are looking to GM’s technology as a platform for their products, represent just one part of our overall EV strategy,” the company said. “Our overall goal is to put everyone in an EV and accelerate adoption.”
Wedbush Securities’ Daniel Ives described Milton’s departure as “a gut punch” to Nikola’s story and a “white knuckle period for Nikola bulls.”
“It’s a dark day for Nikola. Let’s just call it like it is. Trevor leaving, he’s a key part of the vision,” he said Monday on CNBC’s “Squawk Box.” “That’s something investors have sort of bet on … I still believe there’s a story here, especially for GM.”
Shares of GM were down 7% in morning trading Monday.
Nikola Corporation (NKLA:NASDAQ)
[Export chart] + WATCHLIST
Real Time Quote | Last NASDAQ LS, VOL From CTA | USD
Last | 11:11:17 AM EDT Volume 52 week range
27.09 -7.1 (-20.77%)
46,425,544
10.20 - 93.99
https://www.cnbc.com/quotes/?symbol=NKLA
What a dream team..
the vehicle will cost about $60,000 to $90,000, Milton said.
And they don’t even have an operational prototype.
Where do I get in line?
Their fraud peaked exactly as GM offered to put $2 billion into them.
idiots
GM was NOT putting money in to NKLA.
They would GET 2B$ (as 11% of NKLA) for NOTHING, other than NKLA would use/buy GM batteries, drive train, etc and GM would manufacture the NKLA vehicles, for a price.
In essence, NKLA had NO Intellectual property (other than hot air). The GM deal shows that (nothing other than the infotainment and outside features of the truck were to be of NKLA’s design.
So Nikola is attempting suicide?
Murder-suicide with GM.............
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