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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Odd Culture Group brings a new kind of after-dark energy to the CBD, where daiquiris, disco and design collide beneath the city streets.
Odd Culture Group brings a new kind of after-dark energy to the CBD, where daiquiris, disco and design collide beneath the city streets.
2 minSydney’s nightlife has long flirted with reinvention, but its latest arrival suggests something more deliberate is taking shape beneath the surface.
Razz Room, the new underground bar and disco from Odd Culture Group, has opened in the CBD, marking the group’s first step into the city centre.
Tucked below street level on York Street, the venue blends cocktail culture with a shifting, late-night rhythm that moves from after-work drinks to full dancefloor immersion.
The space itself is designed to evolve over the course of an evening. An upper bar offers a more intimate setting, suited to early drinks and conversation, while a sunken dancefloor anchors the venue’s later hours, with a rotating program of DJs and live performances.
“Razz Room will really change shape throughout a single evening,” says Odd Culture Group CEO Rebecca Lines.
“Earlier, it’s geared towards post-work drinks with a happy hour, substantial food offering, and music at a level where you can still talk.”
As the night progresses, that tone shifts.
“As the evening progresses at Razz Room, you can expect the music to get a little louder and the focus will shift to live performance with recurring residencies and DJs that flow from disco to house, funk, and jazz,” Rebecca says.
The concept draws heavily on New York’s underground club scene before disco became mainstream, referencing venues such as The Mudd Club and Paradise Garage. But the intention is not nostalgia.
“The space told us what it wanted to be,” Lines explains. “Disco started as a counter culture… Razz Room is no nostalgia project, it’s a reimagining of the next era of the discotheque.”
Design, too, plays its part in shaping the experience. The upper level is warm and textural, with timber finishes and burnt-orange tones, while the sunken floor shifts into a more theatrical mood, combining Art Deco references with a raw, industrial edge.
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