Shares of EV start-up Nikola surge on earnings beat, plans to generate revenue in 2022

KEY POINTS

• Shares of Nikola surged Thursday by more than 17% after the company reported a narrower-than-expected loss during the fourth quarter and confirmed revenue expectations for 2022.
• Nikola projects it will generate revenue of between $90 million and $150 million in 2022 on deliveries of between 300 and 500 of EV semitrucks.
• The results, in concert with a significant spike in oil prices tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, helped to spur an increase among electric vehicle stocks.

San Pedro, CA - December 17: The first two zero-emissions electric trucks, from an order of 100 vehicles, delivered from the Nikola Corporation to Total Transportation Services at the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro on Friday, December 17, 2021.

Brittany Murray | MediaNews Group | Getty Images

Shares of Nikola Corp. surged Thursday by more than 17% after the embattled electric vehicle start-up reported a narrower-than-expected loss during the fourth quarter and confirmed plans for truck production and revenue generation in 2022.

The pre-revenue company, which recently settled a federal probe into misleading investors, reported an operating loss of $90.4 million, or 23 cents per share. That compared with Wall Street's expectations of a loss of 32 cents per share, according to analysts compiled by Refinitiv.

After hitting a new 52-week low of $6.41 a share Thursday morning, the stock closed at $8.04 a share, up by 17.7%. The stock remains down 20.8% in 2022.

Nikola said it expects to generate revenue of between $90 million and $150 million in 2022 on deliveries of between 300 and 500 of its first battery-electric semitrucks — known as the Nikola Tre — to customers.

Non-prototype production of the trucks at its plant in Coolidge, Ariz., is expected to begin on March 21, according to CEO Mark Russell. The company delivered its first nonsalable prototype models to customers and dealers in the previous quarter.

Nikola said it built 30 prototypes during the fourth quarter in Arizona, but only five were commissioned due to supply chain delays. It delivered another six trucks so far this year, the company said.

The results, in concert with a significant spike in oil prices tied to the Russian invasion of Ukraine, helped to spur an increase among electric vehicle stocks.

On a day when oil is over $100 a barrel, "we got more detail on a potential key player in new clean energy transportation," Evercore ISI analyst Chris McNally said in an investor note Thursday.

McNally said Nikola largely beat Wall Street's expectations regarding fourth-quarter results and guidance, adding that long-term funding remains "the key question."

The automaker had a cash balance of $522 million at year-end, and it expects to spend between $295 million and $305 million in 2022.

– CNBC's Michael Bloom contributed to this report.