Why Polestar Automotive Stock Crashed 13% on Thursday

Polestar Automotive (NASDAQ: PSNY) stock crumpled under the pressure of an earnings miss Thursday morning. As of 10:35 a.m. ET, shares of the Sweden-based, China-controlled electric car company were down by 13.5%.

Heading into its third-quarter report, analysts had forecast Polestar would rack up $634 million in sales and lose about $0.15 per share. Polestar missed the sales goal, however, reporting revenue of only $551 million. As regards profits, Polestar said its net loss was $323 million. On a 2.1 billion-share count, that works out to be closer to a loss of about $0.16 per share.

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Polestar Q3 earnings

Polestar sold 12,548 cars in Q3, down 8% year over year. Revenue from those sales declined by 10%, and on the bottom line, Polestar's $323 million net loss works out to Polestar losing more than $25,740 for every EV it sold.

So no, the news wasn't great.

Strange as it sounds to say it, then, Q3 actually marked an improvement in Polestar's business. Through the first three quarters of this fiscal year, you see, Polestar's revenue declined by 21% -- so its sales slowdown actually seems to be moderating somewhat.

Is Polestar stock a sell?

Still, by and large, things are not looking good for Polestar. Management says the company is struggling with "higher discounts in a competitive market and a delay in sales ramp up of new carlines," which are weighing on sales, and delaying the company's quest for profits. In light of these "continued adverse market conditions," Polestar felt compelled to update its guidance for investors.

Instead of flat sales and positive gross margins, management now says revenues will decline by a mid-teens percentage overall for 2024, and predicts that its gross profit margin will be negative.

Up on Wall Street, most analysts covering the EV maker think it will be 2031 before it turns things around and becomes profitable. Fingers still crossed on that score, but the way things are going, Polestar probably won't make it to see 2031 at all.

I'm afraid this one's a sell, folks.

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Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.