Workhorse shares collapse, all eyes now on Q4 results
Electric vehicle startup Workhorse, set to report quarterly results on Monday, remains optimistic on its growth potential after losing a key contract.
- Workhorse Group, Inc (Nasdaq: WKHS) share price slumped 50.9% last week to US$16.17 per share
- Its proposal for a big Postal Service contract was rejected
- The contract loss prompted some analysts to lower their target prices
- The electric vehicle (EV) maker is due to report its Q4 and full-year 2020 results on Monday (01 March 2021)
- Trade Workhorse shares, long or short, with an IG account
Why did Workhorse shares slide?
Shares of electric vehicle maker Workhorse slid 14.3% on the day to finish Friday (26 February) at US$16.17. That’s a 50.9% plunge in value from the week prior, marking the stock’s all-time biggest weekly rout.
News that the startup lost a major contract from the US Postal Service (USPS) surprised the market and eroded investor sentiment.
USPS last Tuesday announced it awarded the deal to build vehicles for mail carriers, to Oshkosh Corp. The overall contract could be worth over US$6 billion in total.
On Thursday, the shares’ losing streak paused briefly, rising 23.3% day-on-day, after a congressman said he would seek to reverse the outcome. Workhorse also plans to fight the decision and ‘intends to explore all avenues’ available to non-awarded finalists in a government bidding process.
Analysts cut targets after ‘shocking’ news
Some analysts thought Workhorse would win at least part of the deal, as it aims to make electric delivery vans for firms like FedEx and United Parcel Service.
Roth Capital Partners’ Craig Irwin described the USPS situation as ‘downright shocking’ and ‘outrageous’; he lowered his Workhorse share price target to US$18, from US$25. Colliers Securities analyst Michael Shlisky said it was ‘really bad news for recent Workhorse investors’.
As of Saturday, three research teams had ‘buy’ calls, four recommended ‘hold’, and one rated the stock ‘sell’. Their average price target was US$17.04 per share, according to Bloomberg data.
Cowen & Co analyst Jeffrey Osborne kept an ‘outperform’ rating but lowered his target to US$18 from US$25. Two analysts - Colliers Securities’ Shlisky and Roth Capital’s Irwin - each maintained their ‘neutral’ recommendations, while Oppenheimer & Co downgraded the stock to ‘market perform’.
BTIG was one of the most bullish, reiterating its ‘buy’ call on Wednesday but shaved its target to US$24 from US$26. The most bearish was Vertical Group with a US$5.25 target and a ‘sell’ recommendation.
Other revenue streams?
On Monday (01 March 2021), it will report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2020 financial results.
Following the USPS news, analysts are turning their focus to other possible revenue sources. RF Lafferty noted it will look at potential orders from new and existing customers, as well as the cash burn rate.
The average analyst estimate is for an adjusted loss of US$0.14 per share and US$1.2 million in revenue for Q4 2020, based on Bloomberg data.
The company’s CFO, Steve Schrader, said there remained plenty of growth potential in selling electric delivery trucks to shipping companies. Workhorse has orders for 8,000 such trucks.
The startup also plans to ramp up production, and aims to make 1,800 vehicles this year, Schrader added.
Workhorse could soon find it more difficult to hold on to its investors if they viewed its growth narrative as faltering, Bloomberg reported.
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