Nikola Corporation

On June 23, 2023, a Nikola Tre battery-electric vehicle (“BEV”) caught fire and spread to four other trucks at the Company’s headquarters, prompting the Company to open an investigation into the incident. Additionally, Nikola posted a tweet regarding the fire, stating that “[f]oul play is suspected as a vehicle was seen in the area of the affected trucks just prior to the incident and an investigation is underway.” On this news, Nikola’s stock price fell $0.09, or 6.5%, to close at $1.29 per share on June 23, 2023, thereby injuring investors.

Then, on August 11, 2023, Nikola issued a recall of all 209 of its battery-electric trucks that it had delivered or built after the investigation of the fire found that a coolant leak inside a battery pack had been the cause. On this news, Nikola’s stock price fell $0.13, or 6.8%, to close at $1.82 per share on August 14, 2023.

Then, on September 4, 2023, another Nikola BEV truck caught fire at a warehouse in Arizona due to the same battery pack deficiencies that had caused the previous fire.

Then, on September 8, 2023, it was reported that yet another Nikola BEV truck had caught fire near the Company’s headquarters. Nikola stated that “there was a thermal incident with one engineering validation battery-electric truck near Nikola’s Phoenix headquarters. No one was injured. This pre-production truck was outside and undergoing battery fire investigation and testing.” On this news, Nikola’s stock price fell $0.16 per share, or 15.4%, to close at $0.88 per share on September 8, 2023, thereby injuring investors further.

The complaint filed in this class action alleges that throughout the Class Period, Defendants made materially false and/or misleading statements, as well as failed to disclose material adverse facts about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects. Specifically, Defendants failed to disclose to investors that: (1) the Company maintained deficient safety and structural controls related to its manufacturing of battery components; (2) the foregoing deficiencies rendered Nikola’s vehicles unsafe to operate and thus unusable, thereby raising the likelihood of a product recall; and (3) as a result, Defendants’ positive statements about the Company’s business, operations, and prospects were materially misleading and/or lacked a reasonable basis at all relevant times.