Nikola NKLA is celebrating a milestone of 100 sales orders for Class 8 Nikola Tre hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicles (FCEVs), for which deliveries are expected to begin in the fourth quarter of 2023. The truck has a range of up to 500 miles and based on desired technological improvements, it has an estimated fueling time of 20 minutes.

Nikola said that it believes it is the only company in the United States with a Class 8 hydrogen FCEV available in the calendar year 2023, engineered and assembled in the United States, as well as a variety of forthcoming hydrogen energy solutions.

Much of Nikola’s success in securing orders is attributable to the California Air Resources Board’s Hybrid and Zero-Emission Truck and Bus Voucher Incentive Project (HVIP) program. The program enables customers to access an incentive of between $240,000 and $288,000 per truck. Because of the Inflation Reduction Act, customers are also eligible for a $40,000 clean commercial vehicle tax credit.

In another news, Anastasiya Pasterick, vice president and corporate controller, Nikola, will succeed Kim J. Brady as the company’s new chief financial officer. Brady has been the CFO since Nov 2017 and will step down from his current position on Apr 7, 2023, but will remain employed with Nikola until Apr 28, 2023.

Pasterick played a key role in Nikola’s 2020 reverse merger. She has proven financial acumen and attention to detail that the company needs as it prepares to unveil HYLA, a new energy brand, the commercialization of Class 8 BEV and the pending production of Class 8 hydrogen FCEVs.

Zacks Rank & Key Picks

NKLA currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.
A few top-ranked players in the auto space are Geely Automobile Holdings Limited GELYY, Modine Manufacturing Company MOD and Wabash National Corporation WNC, all of which sport a Zacks Rank #1.

Geely is engaged in automobile manufacturing and related areas. The Zacks Consensus Estimates for GELYY’s 2023 sales and earnings imply year-over-year growth of around 57.5% and 7.4%, respectively.

Modine operates primarily in a single industry of manufacturing and selling heat transfer equipment. The Zacks Consensus Estimates for MOD’s 2023 sales and earnings imply year-over-year growth of roughly 11.4% and 43.1%, respectively.

Wabash is one of the leading manufacturers of semi-trailers in North America. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for WNC’s 2023 sales and earnings implies year-over-year growth of around 13.1% and 28.9%, respectively.

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