Tesla competitor Nikola Corp sees market value soar past car giants Ford, Fiat Chrysler
- Tesla competitor Nikola Corp. has seen its shares surge since debuting as a public company last week.
- The rise in Nikola has sent its market valuation to $31 billion in Wednesday morning trades, higher than car giants Ford and Fiat Chrysler.
- Nikola Motor Corp. has yet to sell a single car, has $0 in revenue, and doesn't expect to generate revenue until 2021.
- On the other hand, Ford and Fiat Chrysler produce and sell millions of cars annually and both generate more than $100 billion in annual revenue.
- In response to Nikola surpassing Ford in market valuation, Ford CEO John Farley pointed to its upcoming electric F-150 and said, "I'm thinking opportunity for Ford Motor Company."
- The disparity between Nikola and the established car giants highlights a recent increase in investor speculation as day traders bid up stocks to astronomical levels.
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Tesla competitor Nikola Corp., which was formed six years ago and has $0 in revenue, is now worth more than car giants Ford and Fiat Chrysler.
Based on Nikola's 402.9 million shares outstanding, Nikola had a market valuation of as much as $31 billion in Wednesday trading. That surpassed Ford's market capitalization of $27.5 billion and Fiat Chrysler's market cap of $20 billion, according to data from YCharts.
Nikola recently set a June 29 reservation date for its electric pick-up truck, Badger, which will directly compete with Ford's popular F-150 truck. The Badger reservation date announcement helped double Nikola's market valuation in a single day.
Investor demand for pure-play electric-vehicle makers is through the roof, evidenced by Tesla's jump to all time highs today, above $1,000 per share, after Musk told his employees to plan for a ramp-up in its Semi truck production.
Nikola also plans to sell an electric semi-truck, and said it has upward of $10 billion in potential revenue from pre-orders.
While Nikola has potential revenue from pre-orders, Ford and Fiat Chrysler have actual revenue from selling millions of cars annually. In 2019, Ford generated $156 billion in revenue, and Fiat Chrysler 108 billion euros in revenue. Tesla generated $24.6 billion in revenue in 2019 and has a market cap of $187 billion.
Clearly, investors are rewarding car manufacturers that focus on technology and electrification and have zero exposure to the internal combustion engine, regardless of whether they're generating revenue or turning a profit. Part of the demand for zero-emission car manufacturers could be the rise in ESG investing, which is popular with millenials.
Still, Ford is undeterred by Nikola and said its recent rise could be a boon for the company. In response to Nikola's market valuation surge, Ford CEO John Farley pointed to its future electric F-150 pickup truck and said in an interview with CNBC on Wednesday morning, "I'm thinking opportunity for Ford Motor Company."