Lordstown Motors Stock Feels Pressure from Competitors
LORDSTOWN, Ohio – An overall down week for the stock market – combined with increased competition from legacy automakers in the electric-vehicle space – helped drive shares of Lordstown Motors Corp. to the lowest levels since the company went public.
On Friday, shares of Lordstown Motors briefly dipped below $3 per unit for the first time – its lowest recorded trade since the company was listed on NASDAQ in October 2020.
Lordstown Motors stock, which trades under the ticker symbol RIDE, fetched $2.99 per share just after 1 p.m. before closing the day in slightly positive territory at $3.11, down 2.8% over a five-day period.
The EV startup’s stock is down more than 24% over the last month and 87% over the past 12 months.
While the overall market downturn Friday was fueled mostly by anemic bank earnings, recent announcements by EV competitors have also placed additional pressure on electric-vehicle startups such as Lordstown Motors.
The company plans to launch its first vehicle, the all-electric Endurance pickup, during the third quarter of this year. In November, Lordstown Motors announced it had entered an agreement to sell its plant to Foxconn for $230 million and another $50 million in equity investment. The deal is expected to close in April.
Meanwhile, legacy automakers such as Ford Motor Co. and General Motors have announced launch timelines for their own EV versions of already popular pickups.
Last week, General Motors unveiled plans to launch the EV version of its Silverado pickup by the fall of 2023.
In September, Ford announced that its F-150 Lighting pickup, an all-electric version of its biggest-selling vehicle, is slated for consumer sales in the spring with a base price of just under $40,000. Higher-end versions are expected to range between $50,000 and $90,000.
Other startup EV manufacturers such as Nikola and Canoo have also felt the squeeze. Nikola’s stock was down 2% over the past five days while Canoo’s had dropped nearly 3%.
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