Nikola shareholder vote on stock sale plan due Thursday

Electric heavy-duty truck maker Nikola will know later on Thursday whether its shareholders have approved its plan to raise money by selling more stock.

Nikola hopes to raise more money to help ramp up production of its new fuel cell-powered electric heavy-duty truck, due to launch later this month. But it needs to increase the total number of authorized shares to 1.6 billion from 800 million before it can sell additional shares to raise funds. The move requires shareholder approval.

Nikola first presented the plan to shareholders at its annual meeting in June. While 77% of voters voted in favor, the total number of votes was not enough to pass the proposal. Nikola is incorporated in Delaware, and under the state’s laws, at least one-half of the total outstanding shares of the company’s common stock must be voted in favor of a stock increase proposal.

The company postponed its annual meeting by a month in an attempt to get more shareholders to vote. The meeting will continue at 4:00 p.m. ET on Thursday, when Nikola will reveal whether the proposal passes or whether it will adjourn again to attract more shareholder votes.

This isn’t the first time Nikola has had to postpone a shareholder meeting to get more votes for a proposal to sell new shares. Last year’s annual meeting was adjourned three times until Nikola won enough votes to increase its total outstanding shares from 600 million to 800 million.

Nikola said Wednesday it produced 33 electric Tre semi-trucks in the second quarter and delivered 45 to dealers. Its dealers sold 66 trucks to customers during the period, for a total of 99 since the start of 2023.

Nikola said on May 9 it was suspending production of its all-electric Tre to focus on launching a fuel-cell version of the Tre with significantly longer range. At the time, the company said 12 fleet customers had placed orders for a total of 140 of the upcoming fuel cell trucks.

Nikola is working to build a network of hydrogen refueling stations to support its upcoming fuel cell trucks. The company said Tuesday that the Caltrans has awarded it a $41.9 million grant to build six stations in Southern California in partnership with the state’s Department of Transportation.

Nikola is expected to report second-quarter results in early August.