Electric vehicle stock Nikola (NASDAQ:NKLA) has had its share of struggles over the years. Now, it’s taking on a whole new problem: a fire at the company headquarters. And it may not just be a fire, either. Either way, it’s sending Nikola shares plunging, as they lost just short of 8% at one point in Friday afternoon’s trading.
Mere days after Nikola announced a shake-up that would leave 270 of its workers unemployed, Nikola took to Twitter to describe the fire behind its headquarters. The fire damaged several electric trucks, but no one was injured, Nikola noted. Worse yet, Nikola suspects “foul play,” pointing out that a vehicle had been seen near the trucks in question, and an investigation followed. Nikola further said it would bring out more information as it became available.
While it would be easy to suspect that the fire was started by one of the 270 folks who went on the chopping block in Nikola’s latest restructuring strategy, there’s a key point to note. This is not the first electric vehicle-related fire that the Phoenix Fire Department has been on. According to 12News, a Waymo facility in Phoenix had an electrical vehicle fire nearby. Further, a Phoenix house caught fire due to an e-bike battery, and when a Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) car crashed into a building in Scottsdale, it caught fire. Twice. So foul play may be suspected, but there are other explanations.
However, Nikola certainly didn’t need a headquarters fire right now. With one Buy rating and four Holds, Nikola stock has an analyst consensus rating of Hold. However, those who take the risk expose themselves to 154.9% upside potential thanks to its average price target of $3.25 per share.
