Not selling any products but the market value of the electric vehicle company was higher than Ford: What is happening?

Last week was a “crazy” time for electric car companies, where all stocks soared. On Wednesday (June 10), Tesla’s stock crossed the $ 1,000 mark, helping Elon Musk’s company surpass Toyota to become the world’s most valuable carmaker.

But at the same time, Nikola, another electric car startup, which has never sold a car, suddenly jumped. When the market closed on Friday (June 12), electric truck maker Nikola had a market value of $ 23 billion. Earlier in the middle of the week, there was a time when its market value reached $ 34 billion, higher than the market value of the car company Ford.

But unlike Ford with an annual turnover of about $ 156 billion, Nikola has never sold a car. Expected revenue of this car company in 2020 is also forecast to be 0. What the hell is going on?

Concept of Nikola electric Badger pickup.

Unlike Tesla, which started its career by producing luxury electric cars, Nikola aims to develop electric pickups and hydrogen-powered electric trucks.

And earlier this month, Nikolai announced his merger with VectoIQ. VectoIQ is a shell company, specifically established to support listing on the NASDAQ of a private company. And less than a week later, Nikola’s market value surpassed that of established auto companies such as Ford and Fiat Chrysler. Despite the fact, it doesn’t sell any products.

Why are people pouring money into a car company that has never sold a product?

First, like Tesla, Nikola is also planning to build a network of charging stations, designed to allow consumers to use charging stations to charge electric vehicles.

Second, Nikolai plans to produce its own hydrogen battery. So far, electric truck manufacturers have never announced a similar plan. And it naturally becomes a special potential advantage of Nikola.

In addition, Nikolai has also established partnerships, hoping to solve the supply chain and production problems on its own. The company plans to develop a variety of trucks, but will not do everything on its own, but will share its expertise with other truck manufacturers, then collect money through research and development of intellectual property. wisdom.

“We have vertically integrated the entire supply chain,” Nikola CEO Trevor Milton explains how the company will eventually reach a market value of $ 100 billion. The 38-year-old CEO, raised in Utah and dropped out of college after only one semester, owns about 40% of the company.

Trevor Milton, CEO of Nikola, who is expected by investors to be the second Elon Musk.

Nikolai’s two target markets are consumer-grade pickups and commercial trucks. These two market segments have great potential and have not been overlooked by electric vehicle manufacturers. Tesla also currently only publishes related products and does not have products publicly available.

Interestingly, the names of Nikola and Tesla are both derived from a great American inventor: Nikola Tesla – famous for the design of modern AC systems. Tesla has been very popular in recent years and Elon Musk has become a star in the technology industry, boosting the popularity of electric vehicles. Many people think that perhaps Nikola is also using the “halo effect |” Tesla and Trevor Milton are the second Elon Musk.

But many experts also suspect that Nikola may disappoint those who expect her. Because it’s not easy to walk the path of Tesla.

“The craziest thing about Nikola is the price of the product they plan to release, claiming it doesn’t compete with Tesla Semi electric trucks. The technology platform used by Nikola is currently unverified , “ Sam Korus said. from consulting firm Ark expressed doubts on Twitter.

Badger, a pickup truck built by Nikoka, is expected to be launched later this year with prices ranging from $ 60,000 to $ 90,000. While the electric pickup Tesla, Cybertruck, is priced lower, from $ 39,000 to $ 69,000. And last week, Elon Musk said in an email that his company is ready to mass produce electric trucks. If Cybertruck comes out, who will care about Badger?

Concept of TRE, Nikola’s expected electric truck model.

So many experts say that although Nikola is creating “some very interesting things”, its current valuation is “ridiculous”.

“So far, apart from some product prototypes, they don’t produce anything. They have no income. They promised something and I doubt they can do it. And now really. “It’s very dangerous to increase the value of the company in this way. Everything is still too early,” said Dan Ives, a Wall Street analyst. He believes the sharp increase in Nikola’s market value is a sign that the market is in short supply. And both Tesla and Nikola are benefiting from it.

“Currently there are supply and demand issues in the stock of electric vehicles. Investors are expected to be interested in joining this field even more,” he said.

Refer to NetEase