Can Nikola Survive Without Making the Badger Pickup?
Few stocks have been as speculative and volatile this year as Nikola Corp (NASDAQ: NKLA). Shares have cratered more than 75% from their high in the spring but are still up more than 60% since the March announcement that it was going public via a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) merger. And the reality is, the recent news hasn't been great. A few months ago, the company was on the cusp of partnering with General Motors on a breakthrough deal that would leverage GM's manufacturing capabilities and some of its technology to bring to market an all-electric pickup named Badger -- but then everything came crashing back to earth.
The company's founder, Trevor Milton, parted ways under a cloud of accusations of fraud and selling investors on a business that was little more than a big idea and empty promises. Nikola finally got a deal done with GM, but it was significantly smaller in scope and the Badger pickup has been shelved.
Can Nikola even make it without bringing a pickup to the market? One expert thinks so. On the Nov. 30 edition of "The Wrap" on Motley Fool Live, host Jason Hall, who's covered the alt-fuels for transportation space for years, made the case for Nikola's future, pointing out that the Badger wasn't on the company's radar before this year. With Milton now out of the picture, Nikola could find it easier to focus on the core products at the heart of its future prospects: electric and hydrogen-fueled heavy-duty class 8 trucks. Whether investors can make any money or not remains to be seen.
Source Fool.com
