Losses at Nikola Corp. in the first quarter of 2024 narrowed year-over-year, and executives are more bullish than in previous quarters about the truck maker’s prospects even as production costs soar.
Phoenix-based Nikola posted a Q1 loss of $147.72 million, down 12.6% compared with $169.094 million in the year-ago period. The Q1 loss also was lower than the Q4 2023 loss of $153.6 million.
However, the company posted a Q1 operating loss of $145.36 million, up 14.3% compared with $127.2 million a year earlier, as it continues to build far fewer trucks than its Coolidge, Ariz., manufacturing facility has the capacity for — with the cost per truck soaring. Nikola said its truck sales costs nearly doubled to $61.75 million in Q1 from $33 million a year earlier. The company built 43 trucks in Q1, compared with 63 in the 2023 period.
