All discussion of Nikola Motors

[tinm]

It’s a red flag when the CEO of a company says “You’ll just have to trust us” and the founder of the company is on vacation and not on the company he founded innaugural earnings call.

Yep. Same facts jumped out to me as well. Having created a bunch of startups, in my experience the founder would never in a million years miss out on a historic moment like this. You either, to paraphrase Shawshank, get busy winning, or get busy losing.

Also, I give the Utah ranch a year, two max.

 

[ninpb]

It’s a red flag when the CEO of a company says “You’ll just have to trust us” and the founder of the company is on vacation and not on the company he founded innaugural earnings call.

You all are just jealous. What's the old saying? Trevor found something he loves that he never has to work a day in his life.

 

[Ratanpara]

I did listen.... waste of time. Stay away as far as possible...

If Nikola could prove this wrong, they may have chance of success, but I doubt they could do that.

Energy conversion for Hydrogen cars is only half that for BEVs - Energy Post

 

[tinm]

You all are just jealous. What's the old saying? Trevor found something he loves that he never has to work a day in his life.

I call that a lifestyle company. Nothing wrong with lifestyle companies per se; San Diego is full of them. But if you’re trying to change the world, put a dent in the universe, also, if you take your company public, it can’t be a lifestyle company.

 

[MartinAustin]

Trevor is on CNBC RIGHT NOW and they are grilling him really hard. I have never seen a company leader get grilled so hard on CNBC. He is scrambling to provide answers and his favourite phrase is "it's been hard" LOL

 

[M|S|M MYP]

Guess the banks need to save some face following the earnings report....

 

[Joe F]

Watched Trevor on CNBC earlier. Shifty eyes, almost as if looking for the feds to show up and arrest him. Body language wise, I wouldn't trust him at all, let alone invest in him.

With that in mind, it made me laugh out loud when he stated he couldn't comment, citing he was handcuffed, and put his wrists together as well. Yeah Milton, get used to that posture, only next time put your hands behind your back as that's where they'll cuff you.

 

[mtndrew1]

I don’t understand how if Nikola has all their products on a cost plus basis with suppliers how they intend to make money long term.

If Iveco is building their chassis they’re going to want a cut. If Nikola is using commodity batteries, LG, Samsung, and CATL are going to want a cut. Same with the fuel cell stacks.

If utilities can profitably make and store hydrogen with excess generating capacity they’re going to keep it for themselves and use it as a storage buffer. If battery storage is cheaper (spoiler alert...) the utilities are going to go that way to reduce expensive peaker plants and only sell kWh at market rates.

And what OEMs have any spare pickup assembly capacity right now?! GM, Ford, FCA, and Toyota can’t build the things fast enough for market demand and a big OEM sure as hell isn’t going to spare a quarter million units of profitable capacity for this clown show.

So...where’s the potential? I don’t get it. Feels very Theranos to me.

 

[ninpb]

Reminds me of the guy that got busted a week ago. Millions in ppp loan and the first thing he buys is a Lamborghini.

 

[M|S|M MYP]

This statement from Trevor is the best one yet......People dont want you to be Tesla ever.....

 

[MartinAustin]

CNBC are making sure they don't treat Milton like they treated Elizabeth Holmes prior to the Theranos problems. i.e. with total adulation and loads of positive publicity. They ended up with a lot of egg on their faces

 

[humbaba]

View attachment 572766
This statement from Trevor is the best one yet......People dont want you to be Tesla ever.....

I think it is even more than that. He is trying to frame this as if Nikola Motors started three weeks ago which is after the IPO. And of course the reality is that they've been living off of investor money since... 2014?

I guess that, compared to Tesla having been founded in 2003, they have had less time. And it took Tesla five years to start selling the roadster. But for someone who boasts of "out-Elon'ing Elon", taking more time (no production projected until at least 2021?) and still have nothing to show for it is not a good look.

 

[Singuy]

View attachment 572766
This statement from Trevor is the best one yet......People dont want you to be Tesla ever.....

Why did Nikola IPO so early? I thought most pre IPO companies show some kind of revenue before IPO. I don't even remember anyone on Shark Tank dared to come on stage without a cent of revenue.

 

[M|S|M MYP]

Why did Nikola IPO so early? I thought most pre IPO companies show some kind of revenue before IPO. I don't even remember anyone on Shark Tank dared to come on stage without a cent of revenue.

I guess these days...you only need a CAD rendering and you will be able to raise millions in VC funds. This company is not going to end well.

 

[mtndrew1]

Why did Nikola IPO so early? I thought most pre IPO companies show some kind of revenue before IPO. I don't even remember anyone on Shark Tank dared to come on stage without a cent of revenue.

I mean I’m just speculating here but it could be the need to generate cash for a $34,000,000 house in Utah.

 

[Joe F]

Full interview with Milton on CNBC today:

Nikola founder attempts to restore confidence and curb investor expectations as shares plunge

 

[ninpb]

I mean I’m just speculating here but it could be the need to generate cash for a $34,000,000 house in Utah.

He is trying to out-Elon Elon who had Bel Air mansions.

 

[Singuy]

I mean I’m just speculating here but it could be the need to generate cash for a $34,000,000 house in Utah.

Where are his angel investors?

 

[Sanny]

I looked in detail into many crypto ICO during 2018 and the recipe for a good ones (for organizers) were exactly the same as what nkla is doing:
- get a big idea and write a white paper about it
- hire disigners and create good looking renderings
- pump the social media constantly
- get lot of paid placements and paid social media promotions
- include immidiate cash outs by organizers in the offering documents
- get the money, hire ton of people, buy a jet and cash out a lot
- keep developing something slowly while enjoying your new lifestyle and write yourself a salary too.

I was always under the impression that it worked so well only because there were no oversight, no regulation, no shorting, you have to manage social platforms and paid media and that is easy.
Shocked that the same recipe works so well in a regulated market in the USA. What are the safety mechanism that should have stopped that?

 

[UnknownSoldier]

I looked in detail into many crypto ICO during 2018 and the recipe for a good ones (for organizers) were exactly the same as what nkla is doing:
- get a big idea and write a white paper about it
- hire disigners and create good looking renderings
- pump the social media constantly
- get lot of paid placements and paid social media promotions
- include immidiate cash outs by organizers in the offering documents
- get the money, hire ton of people, buy a jet and cash out a lot
- keep developing something slowly while enjoying your new lifestyle and write yourself a salary too.

I was always under the impression that it worked so well only because there were no oversight, no regulation, no shorting, you have to manage social platforms and paid media and that is easy.
Shocked that the same recipe works so well in a regulated market in the USA. What are the safety mechanism that should have stopped that?

SPAC's let you basically ignore all the usual requirements for an IPO. It's a huge loophole but we all know just what the SEC is actually for here so no one should be surprised nothing is being done about it.