Workhorse
A Workhorse N-GEN electric utility van.
- Workhorse, the electric-truck company negotiating a deal to buy an Ohio assembly plant from General Motors, got a sizable boost in its stock price on Wednesday after President Donald Trump sent a tweet about the deal.
- Shares of Workhorse Group Incorporated finished the day at $2.65, nearly 215% above the previous day's close at $0.84 per share. The stock settled at $3.47 in after-hours trading.
- Workhorse shares have floated around $1 or less for most of 2019.
- Trump apparently preempted an official announcement about the deal between GM and Workhorse on Wednesday, forcing GM to correct the president's remarks.
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The electric-truck company Workhorse is talking to General Motors about buying its assembly plant in Lordstown, Ohio.
President Donald Trump apparently preempted an official announcement about the deal on Wednesday, after a conversation with GM CEO Mary Barra. The two companies are still in the negotiation phase, according to GM.
The automaker swooped in after Trump celebrated the pending deal on Twitter, saying the "discussions" with Workhorse were ongoing, and that Workhorse founder Steve Burns would buy the plant "upon final agreement."
Markets had a strong reaction to the news, sending the Workhorse stock up nearly 215% to $2.65 per share. The stock climbed even higher in after hours trading, where it landed at $3.47.
"We remain committed to growing manufacturing jobs in the US, including in Ohio," Barra said in a statement, "and we see this development as a potential win-win for everyone."
"Workhorse has innovative technologies that could help preserve Lordstown's more than 50-year tradition of vehicle assembly work."
That would be welcome news for the Midwest manufacturing sector hit hard by auto-plant closures - which themselves are due in part to shifts in demand for certain types of vehicles.
Trump has also interpreted the pending deal between GM and Workhorse as a victory for his policy agenda, and a potential boost to his 2020 reelection campaign in Ohio. He won the generally purple state in 2016, taking 51.3% of the vote, after President Barack Obama won the state in 2012.