Electric truck manufacturer Nikola is facing another hurdle as shares fell below $1.
The beleaguered company's stock was trading at 63 cents per share on Thursday as investors have grown weary of its losses. Nikola (NKLA) received a notice warning it could be delisted by the Nasdaq since it fell below the $1 threshold that is required, according to a SEC filing.
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The Nasdaq sends out notices to companies when they fail to meet the minimum bid price requirements.
Shares of Nikola plummeted by 73.65% during the past six months as the company struggles with expensive material costs for its batteries and other production issues.
Nikola reported weaker than expected first-quarter results with a loss of $169.1 million as the Phoenix-based vehicle manufacturer looks to refocus its strategy.
The company reported a $0.26 per share loss, which came in line with analyst expectations, but posted a miss on the top line, with revenue coming in at $11.12 million, $1.23 million below expectations.
Nikola’s CEO Michael Lohscheller said the company is reprioritizing its business and is renewing its focus on hydrogen fuel cell trucks, HYLA hydrogen ecosystem and autonomous technologies. The shift in strategy pushed the company to sell its stake in its European joint venture to Iveco in Ulm, Germany and instead refocus its business operations in North America.
Lohscheller told TheStreet's J.D. Durkin in a May 9 interview that the company plans to look "forward into the future and not the past" and touts its fuel cell truck with a 500 mile range.
Nikola's next step is to raise capital and has encouraged its shareholders to approve increasing the number of shares at its annual shareholder meeting in June.
The company also said it would pause production until July for the first hydrogen fuel cell trucks.
"And then once we ramp up the fuel cell truck production, we can produce on one manufacturing line, actually both trucks," Lohscheller told Durkin. "And I think this flexibility is important, but we also have enough inventory on the battery electric truck and therefore we decided to pause it to prepare for fuel cell and make sure the inventory comes in line and is more balanced."
Nikola said earlier in the month that it would partner with Volterra to set up up to 50 hydrogen stations in the U.S. to increase heavy trucking mobility.
Another partnership that Nikola announced is working together with Plus AI to increase autonomous driving features in its vehicles.
"That’s a great partnership and a very important announcement because we go the first steps in terms of various levels of autonomy," he told Durkin. "In this specific partnership with Plus AI, we have various safety elements. And we want to continue on this path. This is the first step, very good feedback from customers. But I could also imagine that in a few years time we go actually from hub to hub without a driver."
Another EV startup company, Lordstown Motors (RIDE) also received a delisting notice from the Nasdaq. The company chose to conduct a reverse stock split to avert delisting from the Nasdaq and to persuade its main investor not to abandon the company.
Earlier in May Lordstown warned that filing for bankruptcy was a real possibility. Taiwanese group Foxconn with which Lordstown had reached an agreement relating to an injection of funds said it was considering backing out of the deal.
Foxconn accused Lordstown Motors of having breached the contract by letting the stock price fall below $1 a share for too long, according to filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission.
"The company is in discussions with Foxconn to seek a resolution regarding these matters," Lordstown said at the time. "However, to date, Foxconn has declined to revoke its invalid termination notice and has failed to confirm that it will proceed with the subsequent common closing or any preferred stock closing."
