Henrik Fisker stands with the Fisker Ocean electric vehicle after it was unveiled on the Manhattan Beach Pier ahead of the Los Angeles Auto Show and AutoMobilityLA on November 16, 2021 in Manhattan Beach, California.
Patrick T. Fallon | AFP | Getty Images
Electric vehicle startup Fisker said Monday that it spent less money in 2022 than it had expected, and that it stays on target to start deliveries of its Ocean SUV this spring and to construct greater than 40,000 vehicles in 2023.
Shares were up over 24% in early trading on Monday.
Fisker said that so far, 56 Oceans have been built at manufacturing partner Magna International’s contract-manufacturing facility in Austria. Fifteen of those were accomplished before year-end and are getting used for testing by each Fisker and Magna, because the two corporations refine the manufacturing process, test additional features, and work through regulatory approval processes within the U.S., Canada and Europe.
The report comes lower than per week after EV startups Lucid and Nikola underwhelmed with their production and delivery results.
Fisker said previously that the Ocean would have about 350 miles of range in top trims, but CEO Henrik Fisker said Monday that early testing has shown the Ocean has more range than expected.
“These results reinforce our expectation that, on the time of launch, the Fisker Ocean may have the longest range of any SUV/Crossover priced below $70,000,” he said.
In base trim, the Ocean has about 250 miles of range and a starting price of $37,499; longer-range versions start at about $50,000.
Fisker expects to finish the testing needed for regulatory approval of the Ocean next month, and to ramp up production — and start deliveries — within the second quarter. The corporate reiterated its previous production guidance — “as much as” 42,400 vehicles in 2023 — “provided the provision chain delivers per our forecast and we receive [regulatory approval] in a timely manner.”
Fisker had “roughly 65,000” reservations for the Ocean as of Feb. 24, up barely from “over 62,000” as of its third-quarter earnings report in early November. Because it can be in-built Austria, the Ocean won’t qualify for the brand new U.S. government EV incentives.
Fisker spent a complete of $702 million in 2022, a bit below its guidance range of $715 million to $790 million. The corporate had $736.5 million in money remaining at year-end, including $57 million raised from its ongoing at-the-market share offering within the fourth quarter of 2022. It currently expects to spend between $535 million and $610 million in 2023.
Fisker is targeting a positive gross profit margin of between 8% and 12% for the yr and said that it can have positive earnings before interest, tax, depreciation, and amortization, or EBITDA, for the total yr as well.
Fisker’s fourth-quarter net loss was $170.1 million, or 54 cents per share, on revenue of about $306,000. Each were wanting estimates: Wall Street analysts polled by Refinitiv had expected a lack of 42 cents per share on revenue of $2.5 million.
Fisker also said it has made progress on its upcoming second model, a lower-cost small EV called the Pear, and it stays on target to enter production next yr.
The corporate said it now has “over 5,600” reservations for the Pear, up from “over 5,000” reservations in early November. The Pear, which is anticipated to start out at $29,900, can be built by Foxconn Technology Group in the previous Lordstown Motors factory in Ohio starting in 2024.
