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Lordstown chose Endurance for the name of its all-electric pickup truck.
Courtesy of Lordstime
Lordstown Motors
reported fourth-quarter numbers Wednesday evening. Profits don’t matter much, as the electric truck manufacturer still doesn’t sell anything. But spending does, and that’s what investors pay attention to, especially after what have been a tough few days for stocks.
Lordstown (ticker: RIDE) expects to invest between $ 250 million and $ 275 million this year in capital equipment, preparing the plant it bought from General Motors (GM) to produce its all-electric pickup truck called Endurance. The company also expects to spend another $ 220 million more or less on expenses. That would leave Lordstown with about $ 200 million by the end of 2021.
Spending seems higher than expected on Wall Street, according to projections added by Bloomberg. Higher-than-expected cash outflows are likely to put pressure on stocks on Thursday. Shares fall by about 3.8% in out-of-hours trading.
Still, it’s hard to know exactly what will happen to the stock price. Shares have already fallen about 15% since Friday, when a short seller released a negative research report on Lordstown. Hindenburg Research alleged that the company’s backlog is not as solid as investors believe. Lordstown reports more than 100,000 pre-orders for its electric truck.
The company issued a brief statement on Monday, saying only management knew about the report and would respond in a timely manner. Lordstown also said, and repeated Wednesday in its benefit release, that it is on track to start producing Endurance in September.
Management talked a little more about the short seller report on the results conference. “We have also received a request for information from the SEC and we are cooperating with this investigation,” said CEO Steve Burns. “In addition, the Board of Directors has formed a special committee to review these matters.”
Investors will have to wait to get more clarity on the issues raised in the negative report. Until then they will see the chronology of the development of Endurance.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]