Tag: Nikola

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Virgin Galactic, Hole, Nikola and extra

Virgin Galactic (SPCE) falls after test delays push back tourism service

A Virgin Galactic logo can be seen outside the building on the company’s first day of trading on the New York Stock Exchange (NYSE) on October 28, 2019 in New York City.

JOHANNES EISELE | AFP | Getty Images

Check out the companies that are making headlines in mid-day trading.

Virgo Galactic The space company’s shares fell 14% after a filing revealed Chairman Chamath Palihapitya sold his personal holding of 6.2 million shares for approximately $ 213 million. He still owns 15.8 million shares with investment partner Ian Osborne. Palihapitiya said in a statement to CNBC that he plans to divert the sale “into a large investment I’m making to fight climate change.”

Ark Innovation – Cathie Wood’s flagship ETF stocks fell more than 6% as rising interest rates put pressure on innovation stocks. The fund’s top positions were all in the red. Tesla’s shares fell 7%, Square and Roku lost 6% each, and Baidu fell 8%. CRISPR Therapeutics fell nearly 10% and Shopify pulled back 7.5%.

Big Lots – Retail stocks were down more than 3% on comparative store sales results for the fourth quarter, with mixed expectations. The company recorded comparable sales growth of 7.9%, ahead of the 8.4% forecast by analysts, according to FactSet. The company didn’t provide a full-year forecast, citing the uncertainty surrounding the pandemic and government incentives. Earnings per share exceeded expectations based on Refinitiv estimates.

Norwegian Cruise Line Holdings – Norwegian shares fell 14%, trailing other troubled cruise names after the company announced another stock offering. The company sells approximately 47.6 million shares for $ 30 per share. Norwegian said it plans to use the funds to buy back debt.

Cisco Systems – Cisco Systems stocks rose more than 3% after JPMorgan revalued shares from neutral to overweight. “We are upgrading CSCO stocks to overweight positions by tracking the rebound in corporate IT spending ahead of expectations, tracking the move to subscriptions on the right track, and still making a low-cost valuation after underperforming competitors,” the said Companies.

Nikola – Shares in the electric vehicle maker fell more than 7% after JPMorgan downgraded the stock from overweight to neutral. The Wall Street firm said the “good news” was already the price of Nikolas stock.

Gap – The clothing retailer’s shares rose more than 6% after the company forecast a rebound in sales growth in 2021 as more consumers return to stores. Gap reported sales in the fourth quarter that were below estimates during the pandemic, but resulted in a profit thanks to its efforts to sell more merchandise at full price and progress it made in closing underperforming stores .

Oracle – Technology stock rose 7% after Barclays switched the company from equal weight to overweight. Barclays cited “an improving cloud mix and better IT spending environment” as factors driving Oracle stocks higher.

Hibbett Sports – The sports retailer’s stock fell more than 5% on mixed fourth quarter results. The company had earnings per share of $ 1.40 on sales of $ 367.8 million. Analysts surveyed by FactSet expected earnings per share of $ 1.37 on sales of $ 380.9 million. However, Hibbett announced a record year for 2020, thanks in part to an increase in online sales.

IMAX Corp. Imax stock rose 11% after the company announced it expected better results this year as consumers return to theaters. The jump comes despite the theater operator reporting mixed fourth quarter results and the company’s loss per share beating a refinitive estimate. However, Imax also had better-than-expected sales for the quarter.

– with reports from Yun Li, Jesse Pound and Rich Mendez of CNBC.

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Business

Nikola is paying $8.1 million in authorized charges for ousted chairman Milton

Nikola is paying $8.1 million in legal fees for ousted chairman Milton

Trevor Milton, CEO and Founder of US Nikola, speaks during a presentation of his new all-electric and hydrogen fuel cell battery truck in collaboration with CNH Industrial at an event on December 2, 2019 in Turin, Italy.

Massimo Pinca | Reuters

Competitive electric vehicle startup Nikola is paying $ 8.1 million in legal fees for ousted founder and chairman Trevor Milton, who left the company in September over a short seller fraud case that led to federal investigations.

This helped increase the company’s legal expenses to $ 27.5 million last year. Most of that, $ 24.7 million, was spent answering regulatory investigations and other litigation related to Hindenburg Research’s claims, Nikola said in its annual filing Thursday with the Securities and Exchange Commission.

According to the company, around $ 1.5 million in Milton’s legal fees were paid in 2020. The start-up lost $ 384.3 million last year, including $ 147.1 million in the fourth quarter, it said on Thursday. Adjusted pre-tax loss for 2020 was $ 200.5 million.

As part of the result, Nikola also lowered delivery expectations for its first product, called Tre Semitruck, from 600 this year to 50-100 due to supplier issues. The company’s shares fell at $ 19.72 each during after-hours trading after Thursday’s close Share, down 6.8% for the day.

“The pandemic has caused significant supply chain disruption,” Nikola CEO Mark Russell said during a call for earnings, specifically referring to a shortage of battery cells to power his vehicles.

A Nikola spokeswoman declined to comment on whether the company will attempt to recoup Milton’s legal fees. In his filing, Nikola said the fees were part of his compensation agreement with the company. Additional legal costs are expected this year related to the Hindenburg report, which led to investigations by the SEC and the Justice Department.

“We incurred significant costs due to the regulatory and legal issues surrounding the Hindenburg article,” Nikola said in the filing. “The total cost of these matters will depend on many factors, including the duration of these matters and the determination made.”

Hindenburg accused Milton of making false statements about Nikola’s technology to grow the company and partner with auto companies. The report, titled Nikola: How to Partner an Ocean of Lies with America’s Largest Automaker, was released two days after the announcement of a deal with General Motors that skyrocketed both companies’ shares in September . It characterized Nikola as “an intricate fraud based on dozens of lies” by Milton.

Nikola has denied and denied many of the allegations, but the company confirmed one of Hindenburg’s biggest claims – that it staged a video showing a truck that appeared to be functional but not working.

An internal investigation by Kirkland & Ellis LLP into statements made by Milton and the Company during this period has “substantially been completed”. The Chicago-based law firm has not reached a conclusion whether statements that may have been inaccurate when filed are against any law, the company said.

Categories
Business

Nikola, Weibo, DoorDash & extra

Nikola, Weibo, DoorDash & more

Nikola Corporation has rang the Nasdaq Closing Bell remotely from around the world.

Source: The Nasdaq

Check out the companies making headlines on Monday lunchtime:

Nikola – Shares in the electric vehicle maker rose nearly 6% after a JPMorgan analyst said he saw “less dramatic” news flow for the company in 2021. “We expect Nikola to post a video of a working Tre in January “We expect a steady flow of updates for the truck in 2021 as the test milestones are reached,” the analyst said.

Myovant Sciences – Shares rose 25% after agreeing to collaborate with Pfizer to develop prostate cancer drug Relugolix. The drug is also being studied for possible uses for women’s health.

Weibo – The stock fell more than 10% despite a better-than-expected quarterly report from the Chinese social media company. Weibo posted adjusted earnings of 66 cents per share, 6 cents above Refinitiv’s estimates. Sales were also above the analysts’ forecasts. However, some analysts pointed to the slowdown in business growth with average daily active users.

Astrazeneca – US-listed shares in the drug maker rose more than 1% after several reports said the company’s Covid vaccine, developed in partnership with Oxford University, is expected to be approved in the UK this week. The AstraZeneca shot is expected to launch next week if approved in the next few days.

Apple – The tech giant’s shares rose more than 3% on the strength of big tech. Progress comes after Apple makes its fourth straight week of profits.

Novavax – Shares fell more than 2% after the biotech company announced that its coronavirus vaccine candidate entered a phase 3 study in the United States and Mexico. “This study is a critical step in building a global portfolio of safe and effective vaccines to protect the world’s population,” said CEO Stanley Erck in a statement.

DoorDash – The food company fell 3.8% after a column in the Wall Street Journal highlighted how a new bill in California could affect delivery service. The regulation would require companies to have agreements with restaurants, potentially affecting the growth strategy for some services.

CNBC’s Pippa Stevens, Jesse Pound and Yun Li contributed to this report.