Lordstown Motors' (NASDAQ: RIDE) share price jumped Tuesday on the back of news that Taiwanese giant Foxconn has agreed a deal to take an almost 20% stake in the loss-making US electric truck maker for up to $170 million.
The world's biggest contract electronics maker will also be given two board seats at startup Lordstown, as the company aims to up its exposure to the electric vehicle market.
Foxconn has increased its investment in electric vehicles and semiconductors in recent years.
Lordstown said Tuesday that the deal will deepen its ties with Foxconn's EV development mobility-in-Harmony (MIH) open-source platform.
After buying the US company's Ohio facility, Foxconn began manufacturing Lordstown's Endurance pickup trucks in September.
“Over the last year, the LMC and Foxconn teams have worked collaboratively to bring the Endurance into commercial production, despite numerous external challenges,” said Edward Hightower, CEO and President of Lordstown Motors. “We acknowledge and appreciate the confidence in our team that is shown by this investment. The combination of LMC's experienced vehicle development team, Foxconn's growing EV ecosystem, the MIH platform, and our asset-light business model will allow us to bring great EVs to market faster and more efficiently.”
Lordstown reported third-quarter earnings Tuesday, posting a loss per share of $0.73, wider than last year's loss of $0.54 per share and worse than analyst consensus expectations. The company also reaffirmed the Q4 start of deliveries of its Endurance model.