Fisker
reported weaker-than-expected fourth-quarter sales. It also included a “going concern” warning in its update to investors. Shares are plummeting in after-hours trading.
Thursday evening, the electric vehicle start-up announced fourth-quarter sales of about $200 million. Wall Street was looking for about $330 million, according to FactSet.
It produced 4,789 vehicles in the fourth quarter. It delivered 3,818. For the full year, Fisker and its production partner
Magna International
made 10,193 Fisker Oceans—4,929 vehicles were delivered.
Fisker ended the year with almost $400 million in cash on its books. Cash use in 2024 was expected to total about $300 million, according to estimates aggregated by FactSet.
That was based on sales of $1.9 billion. Fisker expects to sell 20,000 to 22,000 cars in 2024 which implies sales of closer to $900 million to $1 billion.
Fisker also projects key expenses to total roughly $330 to $390 million this year. It looks like the company will need more cash. That is one reason Fisker included a ”going concern” warning in its news release. That essentially means Fisker can’t continue to operate as it has for the coming 12 months without a significant change.
The company added in its news release that it is in “negotiations with a large automaker for a potential transaction which could include an investment in Fisker, joint development of one or more electric vehicle platforms, and North America manufacturing.”
The identity of the auto maker isn’t known. Fisker didn’t immediately respond to a request for comment.
Fisker stock was down 33% in after-hours trading Thursday at 48 cents a share. Shares were down 0.7% in regular trading while the
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
added 0.5% and 0.9%, respectively.
Through regular trading on Thursday, Fisker shares were down about 90% over the past 12 months. Rising interest rates and rising EV competition have sapped investor enthusiasm for shares of start-up players.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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