Fisker (NYSE:FSR) stock is falling 8% in early trading after the electric vehicle startup announced that it would have to delay the release of its third-quarter financial results until Nov. 13. The results were originally supposed to be unveiled today.
More About the Postponement
Fisker blamed the delay on the departure of its former Chief Accounting Officer on Oct. 27 and the appointment of a successor on Nov. 6.
Fisker’s CAO, John C. Finnucan IV, left Fisker to become the Chief Financial Officer of another company. According to the company’s 8-K filing in September, his departure “is not related to the operations, policies, or practices of the Company, or any issues regarding accounting policies or practices.”
According to Barron’s, “failing to finish financial statements on time is considered a red flag.”
Nonetheless, Fisker has postponed its earnings release by less than a week and has cited a fairly innocuous reason for doing so. What’s more, the firm has not reported any financial irregularities or improprieties at this point.
Consequently, it’s likely premature to worry about the reliability of Fisker’s financial statements at this point. Nonetheless, if doubt is cast on the reliability of the company’s past financial results, the shares will likely retreat sharply.
FSR Stock: What Investors Should Watch Going Forward
If the automaker reports that its past financial statements cannot be relied upon when it reports its Q3 results on Monday, most of the Street is likely to abandon FSR stock.
Also noteworthy is that Fisker, unlike many of its peers, has not released its Q3 delivery totals. However, on Sept. 26, Fisker said that it “anticipates milestone pace of 300 vehicle deliveries per day in US and
Europe.”
FSR stock is down about 42% year-to-date.
On the date of publication, Larry Ramer did not have (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
