Nikola Motor (NASDAQ: NKLA) shares fell during Tuesday’s trading session after Hindenburg Research made yet another response to the company’s possible involvement in fraudulent behavior. NKLA shares fell a total of 8.27% during Tuesday trading hours. The company’s price per share now sits at $32.83 apiece.
Hindenburg’s most recent reply to Nikola’s rebuttal came during the morning of September 15th. The research firm stated that the automaker’s response was a “tacit admission of securities fraud.”
“We included 53 questions at the end of our report that we believe shareholders deserve answers to. The company promised a full point-by-point rebuttal, but then only responded to 10 of our questions,” Hindenburg’s report stated.
Last week, Hindenburg revealed a lengthy report indicating that Nikola was “an intricate fraud.” However, Nikola issued a rebuttal on Monday, where it said that Hindenburg’s report was simply “false and defamatory.” Hindenburg admitted that it holds a short position against Nikola.
The claims in Hindenburg’s report against the automaker would essentially light a fuse to Nikola’s ultimate demise. Still, there is no indication that any of the claims hold any weight as of now. However, Nikola did admit that its video of the “One,” a semi-truck, was not self-propelled. This was after the company stated that the One would be fully functional.
“Nikola admitted that its deceptive ‘Nikola One in Motion’ video was, in fact, video of the semi-truck simply rolling down a hill,” Hindenburg’s report noted.
Additionally, the report indicated that CEO Trevor Milton’s claims that a semi-truck was in production were ultimately false. Milton stated that the first production push was underway at a production facility in Ulm, Germany. However, Bosch, the company who was handling the production, had indicated that these claims were false and that no vehicle had rolled off of the lines at the Ulm plant.
Hindenburg has allowed Nikola to confront many of the claims that they have made up until this point. However, Nikola has ultimately decided to defend itself with attornies.
Since the scandal has come to light, the Securities and Exchange Commission is looking into Nikola to see if the allegations made by Hindenburg hold any weight. Nikola shares have risen 247% so far in 2020.
Disclosure: I have no ownership in shares of NKLA and have no plans to initiate any positions within 72 hours.