Hindenburg Does it Again: Short-Seller Accuses Lordstown Motors of Fake Order ‘Mirage’

Shares of Lordstown Motors Corp (NASDAQ: RIDE) suffered the worst plunge in nearly five months, after short-seller Hindenburg Research revealed it has taken a short position against the electric-truck startup.

“Lordstown is an electric vehicle SPAC with no revenue and no sellable product, which we believe has misled investors on both its demand and production capabilities,” Hindenburg revealed in a report on Friday, called The Lordstown Motors Mirage: Fake Orders, Undisclosed Production Hurdles, And A Prototype Inferno. Hindenburg is the short-seller best known for its scathing report on EV maker Nikola Corp, which ultimately led to the demise of the company’s founder and numerous investigations by regulatory bodies.

Lordstown is one of many EV startups that have gone public via mergers with SPACs, or special purpose acquisition companies. Back in January, Lordstown announced it had received over 100,000 non-binding production reservations for its EV truck from numerous commercial fleets. However, as Hindenburg notes in its report, “our conversations with former employees, business partners and an extensive document review show that the company’s orders are largely fictitious.”

Hindenburg also revealed that a $735 million order made by E Squared Energy that Lordstown had previously boasted about was actually a company based out of Texas that has yet to operate a fleet. Hindenburg’s report also said the electric-truck maker used the help of a consulting firm to create pre-orders for its products, but given that sales were non-binding, the company’s claims of future revenue were difficult to materialize into real cash flow.

Lordstown has yet to respond to the allegations, but the company’s stock took a significant tumble, falling by as much as 23% on Friday.

Information for this briefing was found via Reuters. The author has no securities or affiliations related to this organization. Not a recommendation to buy or sell. Always do additional research and consult a professional before purchasing a security. The author holds no licenses.