Stock in electric-vehicle start-up
Fisker
was falling early Wednesday after the company adjusted the timing of its third-quarter earnings release.
Investors were expecting to hear about third-quarter results Wednesday and how sales and deliveries are shaping up in the coming months. Instead, the company announced it was pushing out the announcement to Monday, Nov. 13.
In a news release, Fisker said the decision was related to the appointment of a new chief accounting officer that became effective Nov. 6 after their predecessor departed, effective Oct. 27. The changes have “delayed the completion of the financial statements and related disclosures.”
Fisker stock was down 7.7% in midday trading at $4.04 a share. The
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
were both down about 0.1%. That puts Fisker shares down more than 33% over the past month. Closing at this level would set a record low.
While the proposed delay is less than a week, reporting earnings on time is the minimum bar for a publicly traded company, and failing to finish financial statements on time is considered a red flag. Investors will now be scrutinizing financial statements about to be released and making sure they square with everything that was reported in the past.
The company referred Barron’s to the news release when asked for additional details about the situation and what led to the leadership change.
As for earnings, Wall Street is projecting a third-quarter per-share loss of 23 cents from sales of $143 million. Sales are expected to be a record. Fisker just started shipping significant quantities of its first EV, the Ocean SUV.
Fisker said in August it planned to build 20,000 to 23,000 Oceans in 2023. Investors will be looking for a delivery update when Fisker releases results.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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