'Share Price Will Take Care Of Itself,' Says Nikola CEO With 2024 Plan To Return Recalled BEVs, Hire New CFO

Nikola Corp NKLA Steve Girsky is positive about the company’s prospects in 2024 after a year that was swamped with setbacks including multiple fire incidents with its battery-electric trucks, a subsequent recall, and several management reshuffles.

What Happened: "I think our prospects are great. I think 2024 is going to be the best year in the history of the company," Girsky said in an interview with Freightwaves.

The CEO said that the company is looking to return the battery-electric trucks it recalled in August to customers in the first quarter of next year. However, he did not divulge the names of the new battery pack suppliers, saying the decision will be shared at a later date.

Nikola issued a recall for all the vehicles in the market between dealers and customers in August after multiple fire incidents. During the company’s third-quarter earnings call last month, Girsky said the company would replace the battery packs of existing BEVs with new ones from an alternate supplier.

The company then also anticipated increased costs over the next nine to 12 months related to the recall, leading to an additional capital requirement of approximately $400 million. 

Girsky said that the company is currently focused on improving its cash profile, satisfying customers, and getting trucks in the field. The company has brought down its burn rate from where it was at the onset of last year and expects no additional layoffs, he said.

"The share price will take care of itself. I was an analyst for almost 20 years. Stocks are connected to companies like rubber bands. Sometimes they get ahead, sometimes they get behind. We can only control what we control, which is the performance of the company and satisfying our customers," Girsky said, referring to the company’s falling share value. Nikola shares closed at $0.89 on Thursday. The stock is down nearly 60% year-to-date.

Management Changes And Stabilization: Girsky is the fourth CEO of Nikola in the past four years. He took over as CEO in August replacing Michael Lohscheller.

Anastasiya Pasterick resigned as company CFO last month after a brief six-month stint in the role. The company hopes to announce a new CFO sometime in January, Girsky said, as per the report.

In the third quarter, Nikola's gross loss bloated to $125.5 million from $30.2 million a year earlier, while the expanded adjusted EBITDA loss widened to $188.6 million from $107.9 million. Adjusted EPS loss of 30 cents was greater than the feared 14 cents. 

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