Short Seller Takes Aim at Another EV Maker
Not all EVs are built the same in market.
2 min
Many new electric-vehicle start-ups have no sales and big aspirations. Electric truck maker Lordstown Motors is one of them. The company doesn’t sell EVs yet, but expects to start selling its all-electric truck called Endurance later in 2021. After the launch, Lordstown projects explosive growth off its 2021 base in 2022 and beyond.
One short seller, however, isn’t buying it.
On Friday morning, Hindenburg Research published a negative research report about Lordstown Motors (ticker: RIDE). The report makes several claims, notably that not all of the preorders the company has claimed are real.
The report is hitting the stock. Shares are down 20%, at $14.18, in Friday morning trading. The S&P 500, by comparison, is down 0.5%. The Dow Jones Industrial Average is up 0.5%.
On Jan. 11, Lordstown reported more than 100,000 preorders for its Endurance pickup truck launched this past summer. Hindenburg claims in its report that it has talked to some Lordstown preorder customers, and points out some it found that don’t have the cash to buy ordered trucks and that preorders don’t carry a commitment to purchase or a penalty to cancel.
Lordstown wasn’t immediately available to comment on the Hindenburg report.
Preorders in the EV industry are fairly common. Tesla (TSLA), when it launched its Cybertruck, regularly reported preorders. Tesla racked up hundreds of thousands in vehicle preorders before it stopped reporting the number. A Cybertruck could be reserved for US$100, which is fully refundable.
Hindenburg is the firm that published a negative research report about electric- and hydrogen-powered trucking company Nikola (NKLA) back in September 2020. Hindenburg alleged Nikola management misled investors. Nikola denied the claims. The report, however, led to the departure of company founder Trevor Milton.
An internal investigation conducted by an outside firm at the behest of Nikola followed and, as a result, the company disclosed in its annual report nine statements made by Miltion which may have been partially untrue.
At the time of the report, Hindenburg was short Nikola stock, betting that its price would decline. Now, Hindenburg is short Lordstown stock and stands to gain as it falls.
Lordstown became a publicly traded company in 2020 after merging with a special purpose acquisition company. The company, founded by Steve Burns, purchased an Ohio plant from General Motors (GM) to kick-start its growth plants.
The company projects more than $100 million in sales for 2021, growing to $1.7 billion in sales in 2022 and then to $5.8 billion by 2024. Vehicle deliveries over that span are projected to go from 2,200 in 2021 to more than 100,000 in 2024.
Lordstown will report fourth-quarter results on March 17 after the market closes. Investors and analysts will have a chance to hear from management then.
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Tech investor was one of the most outspoken supporters of Trump in Silicon Valley
2 min
President-elect Donald Trump named a Silicon Valley investor close to Elon Musk as the White House’s artificial intelligence and cryptocurrency policy chief, signaling the growing influence of tech leaders and loyalists in the new administration .
David Sacks , a former PayPal executive, will serve as the “White House A.I. & Crypto Czar,” Trump said on his social-media platform Truth Social.
“In this important role, David will guide policy for the Administration in Artificial Intelligence and Cryptocurrency, two areas critical to the future of American competitiveness,” he posted.
Musk and Vice President-elect JD Vance chimed in with congratulatory messages on X.
Sacks was one of the first vocal supporters of Trump in Silicon Valley, a region that typically leans Democratic. He hosted a fundraiser for Trump in San Francisco in June that raised more than $12 million for Trump’s campaign. Sacks often used his “All-In” podcast to broadcast his support for the Republican’s cause.
The fundraiser drew several cryptocurrency executives and tech investors. Some attendees were concerned that America could lose its competitiveness in emerging areas such as artificial intelligence because of overregulation.
Many tech leaders had hoped the next president would have a friendlier stance on cryptocurrencies, which had come under scrutiny during the Biden administration.
“What the crypto industry has been asking for more than anything else is a clear legal framework to operate under. If Trump wins, the industry will get this, and more innovation will happen in the U.S.,” Sacks posted on X in July.
The tech industry has also pressed for friendlier federal policies around AI and successfully lobbied to quash a California AI bill industry leaders said would kill innovation.
Sacks’ venture-capital firm, Craft Ventures, has invested in crypto and AI startups. Sacks himself has led investment rounds in many. He has previously invested in companies such as Slack, SpaceX, Uber and Facebook.
Sacks was the former chief operating officer of PayPal, whose founders included Musk and Peter Thiel . The group, called the “PayPal mafia,” has been front and center this election because of its financial muscle and influence in drumming up support for Trump.
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