Fisker Stock Tanks After Poor Earnings. EV Concerns Accelerate.
2 min
Stock in Fisker was falling sharply after the electric-vehicle start-up reported weaker-than-expected third-quarter numbers and cut full-year production guidance.
It wasn’t a great quarter.
Fisker (ticker: FSR) announced a third-quarter per-share loss of 27 cents from sales of about $72 million on Monday evening. Wall Street was looking for a loss of 23 a share from sales of about $143 million. This was Fisker’s first quarter of significant sales shipping the Ocean, its first EV.
Fisker delivered 1,097 vehicles and produced 4,725 in the quarter. The company added in its news release that 1,200 were delivered in October as well.
Full-year production guidance is now 13,000 to 17,000 units. In August, the company said it planned to build about 20,000 to 23,000 units this year. That was trimmed from earlier guidance. In May, Fisker’s production forecast called for 32,000 to 36,000 units in 2023.
“This is a very prudent change that we need to do to enable our global delivery and logistics platform to scale so we can serve our customers even better and we are not sitting on inventory,” said Chief Financial Officer Geeta Gupta-Fisker during the company’s earnings conference call.
Management expects full-year 2023 research and development, selling, general and administration expenses, and capital spending to be between $565 million and $640 million. That is the same range that was provided in August.
Fisker ended the quarter with some $625 million in cash and investments on its books. Wall Street expects the company to use roughly $75 million a quarter for the coming few quarters, according to FactSet.
“In a separate filing, Fisker warned that it will delay its 10-Q filing after finding material weaknesses in internal controls, stating that it was unable, without reasonable effort and expense, to complete the preparation of its quarterly report by November 9,” wrote CFRA analsyt Garrett Nelson in a research report Monday. That warning followed the departure of a former chief accounting officer, effective Oct 27.
He rates shares Sell and has a $1 price target on the stock. TD Cowen analyst Jeffrey Osborne rates shares Buy. His price target is $11 a share. He cited “growing pains” for weak deliveries adding in a report, “Arguably the key takeaway from results was that once Fisker is able to figure out the delivery end of the equation it should be able to scale production as needed to meet demand.”
Fisker stock was down 22% Tuesday while the market surged ahead following better-than-expected inflation data. The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite were up about 2% and 2.3%, respectively.
The stock gained 6.6% in regular trading Monday, closing at $4.11 a share. That is 26 cents away from where the stock closed at on Nov. 7. This earnings report wasn’t typical. Fisker was due to report earnings on Nov. 8, but delayed its report after hiring a new chief accounting officer. Fisker stock slid from $4.37 a share to $3.99 a share after the delay was announced on Nov 8.
Through Monday trading, Fisker stock was down 52% over the past 12 months while the S&P 500 and Nasdaq were up about 11% and 23%, respectively. Higher interest rates and lower prices for EVs, caused mainly by Tesla (TSLA) price cuts, have sapped investor enthusiasm for stock in EV start-ups that aren’t profitable yet.
Options markets implied the stock will move about 15%, up or down, following earnings. Shares have moved an average of about 12%, up or down, after the past four quarterly reports, gaining one time and falling three times over that span.
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Paramount and California’s attorney general are in advanced settlement talks over the company’s proposed $81 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery. Potential concessions include investing $1.5 billion in California production, retaining both studio lots and introducing safeguards for CNN’s editorial independence.
3 min
California’s attorney general and Paramount PSKY -3.86%decrease; down pointing triangle have discussed a series of potential concessions as part of advanced settlement negotiations, including a $1.5 billion investment by the company in production in California, according to people familiar with the discussions.
Paramount executives and a coalition of states that sued to block its $81 billion merger with Warner Bros. Discovery WBD -1.56%decrease; down pointing triangle spent the weekend hashing out the details of a possible settlement. Such an agreement would clear the way for a deal that would bring HBO, CBS, CNN, streaming services and famed movie studios under one owner.
Among the concessions the parties have discussed beyond the sizable production investment: a promise not to sell either studio lot and to stay in the state of California, the people said. The company had explored moving out of the state as the deal faced opposition.
The parties have also considered potential penalties if Paramount doesn’t make good on an earlier pledge to make 30 movies a year after the merger, including having to sell its stake in Miramax, known for such classic movies as “No Country for Old Men” and “Pulp Fiction,” the people familiar with the matter said.
Other measures the sides have explored include the sale of some cable channels and the creation of a board to ensure that CNN retains editorial independence, people with knowledge of the talks said. The network has been a political flashpoint throughout Paramount CEO David Ellison’s fight for Warner. Paramount had been discussing creating such an editorial board before the lawsuit.
A final deal hasn’t been reached, and it is unclear what terms the parties may ultimately agree to.
Ellison has spent the past year fighting to buy Warner in a megadeal that would expand his entertainment empire, but that has drawn opposition from some political and Hollywood figures.
A dozen Democratic-led states led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta sued in July to block the deal on antitrust grounds, arguing that the combination of Paramount and Warner would create too much concentration in the markets for theatrical films and cable television channels.
The Writers Guild of America sued over the merger, saying that the deal would eliminate jobs and career opportunities for Hollywood screenwriters.
About two dozen demonstrators gathered in front of the Elihu M. Harris State Office Building in downtown Oakland on Sunday evening to protest a potential settlement. Holding signs reading “Bonta: Don’t You Dare” and “Block the Megamerger,” they took turns giving speeches urging the attorney general to continue pressing the suit.
“Nothing has changed since he filed the case,” said Annie Leonard, co-founder of the nonprofit Committee for the First Amendment, which advocates for free expression. “He needs to stay as strong as he was in filing it.”
The two sides had come under pressure to settle the matter in recent months, including from California Gov. Gavin Newsom, Los Angeles Mayor Karen Bass, gubernatorial candidate Xavier Becerra, movie theater chains and some Hollywood labor unions.
Paramount’s agreement with Warner also included a “ticking fee” with payments to Warner shareholders of roughly $650 million a quarter, or $7 million a day, beginning next month, until the transaction closes.
Paramount had asked a federal judge to require the states and the Writers Guild to put up a nearly $1.9 billion bond for challenging the acquisition, money that would go to the company if it ultimately won the case.
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