Fisker reports preliminary Q4 EPS ($1.23), consensus (27c)

Reports preliminary Q4 revenue $200.1M, consensus $310.79M. “2023 was a challenging year for Fisker, including delays with suppliers and other issues that prevented us from delivering the Ocean SUV as quickly as we had expected,” Chairman and CEO Henrik Fisker said. “We also encountered unexpected headwinds in our efforts to establish a direct-to-consumer sales model in both North America and Europe at the same time. There were a number of unanticipated challenges, including rising interest rates, finding enough skilled labor, and identifying appropriate real estate locations to make the DTC model function effectively. As a result, we pivoted to a new Dealer Partner model at the end of 2023 and announced this strategic shift in early January 2024. The transition has been going well as we have signed up numerous Dealer Partners in the US and Europe. While we transition to the Dealer Partner model, our sales execution has been negatively impacted. However, we believe we are beginning to see the benefits of the Dealer Partner model as dealers have the potential to order more cars than we would have been able to sell to customers. We still must prove that this model works, as it goes against the approach taken by other independent EV start-ups.”