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Lordstown chose Endurance for the name of its fully electric pickup.
Thanks to Lordstime
Lordstown Motors
reported fourth-quarter numbers Wednesday night. However, the earnings do not matter much as the manufacturer of electric trucks is not selling anything yet. But spending does – and this is what investors are paying attention to, especially after a few days of equities being difficult.
Lordstown (ticker: RIDE) expects to spend between $ 250 and $ 275 million on capital equipment this year to get the factory he bought from General Motors (GM) ready to manufacture its fully electric pickup truck called the Endurance. The company also expects to spend another $ 220 million on expenses. That would leave Lordstown with about $ 200 million by the end of 2021.
Spending looks higher than Wall Street expected, based on forecasts compiled by Bloomberg. Higher-than-expected cash outflows are likely to push the stock down Thursday. Shares are down about 3.8% in trading after hours.
Yet it is difficult to say exactly what will happen to the share price. Shares have fallen about 15% since Friday, with a negative research report on Lordstown. Hindenburg Research claims the backlog of the company 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 that management knows of the report and that it will respond in a timely manner. Lordstown also said, and reiterated in its profit statement on Wednesday, that it was on track to start manufacturing the Endurance in September.
Management talked a bit more about the short seller’s report on the earnings conference. “We have also received a request for information from the SEC and are working together on the investigation,” said Steve Burns, chief executive. “In addition, the board has set up 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 be watching the Endurance development timeline.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]