Lordstown Motors Hits Wall Street After SPAC Merger, Shares Jump 20% On First Trading Day

Ohio-based Lordstown Motors saw a volatile trading debut on the Nasdaq Monday, as its shares rose 20% during the day before settling down.

The company started trading after a reverse merger with DiamondPeak Holdings, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC). Its stock reached as high as $21.75 but stayed under $20 throughout the day. It closed at $18.97 on Monday, 4.2% higher.

DiamondPeak debuted on the market in March 2019 and raised $250 million.

Lordstown Motors is the fourth electric vehicle startup that has opted to debut on the markets through a SPAC deal. This way of the listing has become a favorable option for young companies to raise money through stock markets as they have a friendlier regulatory process than conventional initial public offerings. EV company Nikola recently merged with the SPAC Hyliion Holdings to go public. Other EV companies that will join this group soon are Fisker and Canoo.

According to Goldman Sachs, SPAC stocks usually get an initial start, but they tend to underperform the broader market in the long run.

Lordstown Motors rode to Wall Street on the back of its expanding electric vehicle range. The company’s most recent offering, the electric Endurance pick-up truck, was unveiled by President Donald Trump at the White House. The truck, due to hit the market in 2021, boasts a revolutionary design, four-wheel drive, and an EV range of more than 250 miles. Its base price is set at $52,500.

The automaker reportedly was to receive close to $675 million of proceeds from the SPAC deal, and all the funds were to be put into Endurance production. After its unveiling, the company said the truck has already received 40,000 pre-orders, which would mean a revenue of roughly $2 billion.

Deliveries of the truck will begin at the end of summer in 2021. The company is hopeful of reaching breakeven or better operational earnings after its first full year of production. Other major competitors in the promising electric truck market include Tesla's Cybertruck, General Motors' Hummer, Ford's Electric F-150, Rivian's R1T, Nikola's Badger, and Bollinger's B2.