Nikola's stock tumbled Wednesday after the zero-emission electric truck company confused investors with its first earnings report as a public company.
"It's our first earnings, right? We have a lot to learn," Trevor Milton, founder and executive chairman at Nikola Motors, told Cheddar as $NKLA's stock price fell nearly 10 percent. "The thing is to try to figure out how to deliver the information to both institutional investors and other investors around the world."
Confusion over share count made it appear as if they missed earnings estimates when Milton says Nikola actually exceeded expectations by 20 percent.
Nikola Motors builds both hydrogen-electric trucks and battery-electric trucks, as well as the infrastructure to support them. The company plans to build out a network of 700 hydrogen fueling stations around the U.S.
Though the company's partially-operational factory in Germany is almost complete, Nikola just broke ground on a new plant in Coolidge, Arizona.
"Coolidge is a big deal for us in Arizona because it's handling all production in North America," Milton said.
Still, Nikola's leader says more "awesome" things lie ahead for the company that has drawn out its fair share of enthusiasts and critics.
"We have the first battery-electric trucks coming off the assembly line right now. We have five of them," Milton said of the German factory, adding that Nikola will continue to test these vehicles through the end of the year and into 2021.
By the end of 2021, Nikola aims to be at full production. Milton claims the company has a $10 billion backlog of orders that will take up to five years to fulfill.
"What's cool about that truck is we're beating all our competition to market," Milton said. "We'll be the first zero-emission semi-truck to market."
Investors will be paying close attention to Nikola World 2020, an event scheduled in early December to showcase the lineup of Nikola vehicles.
The functionality of Nikola's pickup truck, The Badger, will be on full display for the first time ever, Milton said.
The Nikola Badger
Milton was visibly excited to bring Nikola fans and investors out to Arizona to show off the company's progress.
"The next four months will be jam-packed for Nikola," Milton said.
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