Nikola (NKLA, Financial) has officially hit the wall. The once-hyped hydrogen-truck maker, briefly valued higher than Ford, has filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy after years of bleeding cash and struggling to gain traction in the market. High interest rates, weak fleet adoption, and an inability to scale its technology ultimately proved too much. The company, which started with battery-electric semi-trucks before pivoting to hydrogen, is now looking to sell off its assets while keeping some operations running until March. Nikola's stock, already battered, took another 49% nosedive premarket at 9.16am, to 39 cents—marking a brutal 99% collapse since its public debut.
The financial cracks had been showing for a while. Nikola had just $47 million in cash left, barely enough to survive beyond early 2024. A last-ditch $300 million capital raise wasn't enough to plug the holes, and fleet operators weren't lining up to buy its trucks. The biggest red flag? Founder Trevor Milton, convicted of fraud in 2022, once allegedly staged a promotional video by rolling a truck down a hill to make it look functional. Short-seller allegations and repeated stock price plunges forced a reverse split just to meet Nasdaq's listing rules. Meanwhile, the company's vision—leasing hydrogen-powered trucks to businesses looking to cut emissions—ran into the cold reality of physics: the technology simply wasn't ready to deliver at scale.
Nikola's collapse is just the latest in a brutal reality check for EV startups. Even Tesla (TSLA, Financial), the industry's heavyweight, reported its first annual sales drop in 2024, despite throwing out incentives to boost demand. The days of unlimited venture funding and sky-high valuations for speculative tech plays are over. Investors are demanding profits, not promises. And for EV hopefuls that rode the pandemic hype wave—only to crash into rising costs and fading enthusiasm—Nikola won't be the last name on the bankruptcy list.
