: Nikola’s stock pulls back after revenue beats expectations but EVs produced and shipped fell, and CEO steps down

Shares of Nikola Corp. NKLA fell 1.3% in premarket trading Friday, after the electric vehicle maker reported a narrower-than-expected loss and revenue that beat forecasts, but EV production and shipments that fell. Net losses for the quarter to June 30 were $217.8 million, or 20 cents a share, after a loss of $173.0 million, or 41 cents a share, in the year-ago period, as the number of shares outstanding used in per-share calculations increased 67% to 708.69 million shares. Revenue fell 15.3% to $15.4 million, above the FacSet consensus of $15.0 million. The number of trucks produced declined 34% to 33,000 and trucks shipped were down 6.3% to 45,000. “Nikola has turned the corner and is well on the way to executing our business plan and achieving profitability,” said Chief Executive Michael Lohscheller. Separately, the company said Lohscheller was stepping down for family health reasons, and Chairman Steve Girsky was named as his successor. The stock, which closed Thursday at a nine-month high, has rocketed 271.6% over the past three months while the Global X Autonomous and Electric Vehicles ETF DRIV has rallied 21.9% and the S&P 500 SPX has gained 10.9%.

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