Lightning eMotors Inc (ZEVY)

[WeTheMarket]

Lightning eMotors Reports Financial Results for Fourth Quarter and Full Year 2021
March 28 2022, Business Wire

Summary
– Record full year revenue of $21.0 million, increased 131% year-over-year
– Record full year sales of 146 zero-emission vehicles, increased 103% year-over-year
– Record fourth quarter revenue of $4.2 million, increased 13% year-over-year
– Announced GM partnership to strengthen our chassis supply
– Announced today a partnership with Forest River for factory-certified - Lightning repower powertrains supporting over 50,000 eligible Forest River Shuttle buses and Vans currently on the road

Lightning eMotors, Inc. (“Lightning eMotors”, “Lightning”, or the “Company”), a leading provider of zero-emission powertrains and medium-duty and specialty commercial electric vehicles for fleets, today announced consolidated results for the fourth quarter and full year ending December 31, 2021.

“The fourth quarter capped a transformational year for Lightning, as we strengthened the company by announcing new strategic OEM partnerships, increasing our sales pipeline, expanding our factory capacity, shipping new products, and adding strong executives to the leadership team,” said Tim Reeser, CEO of Lightning eMotors. “We believe we have more zero-emission Class 3-6 commercial vehicles on the road than any other US OEM, as we continued to deliver vehicles under our key contracts with Forest River and Collins Bus, among others. We shipped our first Class A double deck motorcoach, which we announced as a new product in the fourth quarter. Recently we announced key partnerships with General Motors, CATL, and Winnebago. Further, we received our first orders for electric ambulances from our agreement with REV Group announced last year. The fact that so many industry-leading commercial vehicle OEMs are choosing to partner with us validates our model and product leadership position, and the repeat customer orders we are seeing from major fleets following initial evaluations speaks to their belief in our staying power.”

Reeser continued, “Actions we took last year to address supply chain challenges around battery supply have mitigated much of the risk we faced in 2021. Chassis supply chain uncertainties that started in the summer of 2021 remain and are a key challenge now in 2022. Our engineering and supply chain teams have again taken strategic actions to help mitigate this risk. We announced the development of our own Lightning eChassis, and we entered into a partnership with General Motors. These actions and partnerships should begin to alleviate chassis-related supply constraints later in 2022 and into 2023. Moreover, our team has directed additional resources toward repower opportunities, leading to the partnership we announced today with Forest River to provide factory-certified Lightning repower powertrains to support over 50,000 eligible Forest River Shuttles buses that are on the road today. We believe we are well positioned to capture many of the commercial vehicle EV repower opportunities that have sprung up with the lack of available new commercial vehicle chassis. Lightning is the only OEM today to offer powertrains to replace ICE and EV powertrains in school buses, shuttle buses, transit buses, and motorcoaches.”

Key Company Highlights

We continue to develop relationships and partnerships with leading vocational vehicle OEMs and suppliers:
- Lightning eMotors Joins with General Motors to Electrify Medium Duty Trucks
- Forest River and Lightning eMotors Expand Partnership to Offer Factory-Certified All-Electric Repower Program for Shuttle Buses and Passenger Vans
- Lightning eMotors Announces Strategic EV Battery Partnership for Supply of CATL Battery Systems
- Lightning eMotors Reveals All-New Lightning eChassis for Electric Commercial Vehicles
- Lightning eMotors Provides Electric Powertrain for Winnebago Industries’ First All-Electric Concept Motorhome
- Lightning eMotors Expands Manufacturing Facility to Meet Increasing Customer Demand
- Lightning eMotors to Supply RideCo with Zero-Emission Passenger Vans for Los Angeles County

Lightning eMotors is a leading zero-emission commercial fleet vehicle and powertrain manufacturer, with over 1.3 million miles of zero-emission commercial vehicle road experience. Lightning provides zero-emission solutions (both Battery Electric and Fuel Cell Electric) for commercial fleets, including Class 3-5 cargo and passenger vehicles, school buses, Class 5-6 work trucks, and Class 7 city buses and motorcoaches. Lightning eMotors’ ongoing focus has been on providing a broad range of premium zero-emission vehicle and powertrain platforms and charging solutions to help fleets reduce emissions, improve energy efficiency, and lower costs.

Fourth Quarter 2021 Financial Results

Fourth quarter revenue was $4.2 million, compared to $3.7 million for the prior-year period, an increase of 13% year-over-year.

Net income was $22.2 million, compared to net loss of $13.4 million during the prior year. The change in net income was primarily due to a $40.0 million gain from the non-cash change in the fair value of the earnout liability. Diluted net earnings per share was $0.28, compared to a loss of $0.42 in the prior-year period.

Adjusted EBITDA was -$15.9 million, compared to -$5.1 million during the same period in the prior year. Adjusted net loss was $20.0 million, compared to $6.9 million during the same period in the prior year. Adjusted EBITDA and adjusted net loss are non-GAAP measures. See explanatory language and reconciliation to the GAAP measures below.

2021 Annual Financial Results

Revenue was $21.0 million in 2021, compared to $9.1 million in 2020, an increase of 131% year-over-year.

Net loss was $100.8 million, compared to net loss of $37.7 million during the prior year. Basic and diluted net loss per share were $1.67, compared to $1.25 in the prior-year period.

Adjusted EBITDA was -$38.8 million, compared to -$13.2 million during the prior year. Adjusted net loss was $53.0 million, compared to $16.5 million in 2020.

We ended the quarter with $168.5 million in cash and cash equivalents on the balance sheet.

The Q4 and full year information reflects our preliminary unaudited results and is based on the information available as of the date of this announcement. The audit may require adjustments which could result in changes to the Company’s unaudited financial results included in this press release.

Order Backlog and Awarded Orders

As of March 14, 2022, the Company had an order backlog—including full vehicles, powertrain systems to be sold directly to customers, and charging systems—of approximately 1,500 units valued at $169.3 million.

The Company’s sales pipeline remains strong at $1.5 billion and is expected to grow further due to strengthening forces driving commercial fleet electrification and a larger sales force. We expect the 2021 Federal Infrastructure Bill funding programs to begin to solidify over the next two quarters, resulting in over $10 billion in new funding for medium and heavy duty commercial electric vehicles, driving customer demand for Lightning products and services.

Guidance

We continue to experience supply chain challenges involving chassis and other key components. Delays associated with any of these components may impact the timing of revenue. Fortunately, our customers remain supportive, and we have not seen any order cancellations due to delivery timing. Based on current business conditions, the Company expects:
- First quarter revenue to be in the range of $5.0 million to $6.0 million. - - Approximately $7 million of potential Q1 revenue has been pushed into future quarters due to supply constraints, principally chassis.
- First quarter vehicle and powertrain sales to be in the range of 65 units to 75 units
- First quarter adjusted EBITDA to be in the range of -$15 million to -$17 million
- Quarterly revenue to grow sequentially throughout 2022 as supply chain issues are managed and incremental revenue is realized from non-chassis-dependent products such as repowers and Lightning Energy

Webcast and Conference Call Information

Company management will host a webcast and conference call on March 28, 2022, at 4:30 p.m. Eastern Time, to discuss the Company's financial results.

Interested investors and other parties can listen to a webcast of the live conference call and access the Company’s fourth quarter update presentation by logging onto the Investor Relations section of the Company's website at https://ir.lightningemotors.com/.

The conference call can be accessed live over the phone by dialing 1-877-407-6910 (domestic) or [phone] (international).

About Lightning eMotors

Lightning eMotors has been providing specialized and sustainable fleet solutions since 2009, deploying complete zero emission vehicle solutions for commercial fleets since 2018 – including Class 3 cargo and passenger vans and ambulances, Class 4 and 5 cargo vans and shuttle buses, Class 6 work trucks and school buses, Class 7 city buses, and Class A motorcoaches. The Lightning eMotors’ team designs, engineers, customizes, and manufactures ZEVs to support the wide array of fleet customer needs, with a full suite of control software, telematics, analytics, and charging solutions to simplify the buying and ownership experience and maximize uptime and energy efficiency. To learn more, visit https://lightningemotors.com.