VinFast Auto
stock was tumbling Friday after the Vietnamese EV maker’s earnings revealed a large quarterly loss even as management offered a solid forecast for the full year.
VinFast (ticker: VFS), which reported its results in Vietnamese dong, had a second-quarter net loss of about 12.5 trillion Vietnamese dong from sales of 7.5 trillion dong. At current exchange rates, the loss is equivalent to $514 million, while the sales were worth about $307 million. The net loss in the first quarter was equivalent to $579 million; the comparable figure for the second quarter of 2022 was $560 million.
The second-quarter loss worked out to about 22 cents a share but that figure isn’t directly comparable to the one for the second quarter of 2022 because In August, the company launched itself into the U.S. public market by merging with a special-purpose acquisition company. The transaction significantly changed the number of shares outstanding.
Along with financial results, VinFast delivered 9,535 EVs in the second quarter—up from 1,780 in the first quarter and 1,789 EVs in the second quarter of 2022.
Most of the second-quarter volume was delivered to fleets controlled by VinFast’s parent company. A taxi company called Green and Smart Mobility, controlled by
Vingroup
(VIC.Vietnam), purchased more than 7,000 EVs in 2023.
The company also delivered 10,182 e-scooters in the second quarter—up from 9,757 delivered in the first quarter, and down from 15,299 e-scooters delivered in the second quarter of 2022.
This is the company’s first quarter as a publicly traded company. There is no consensus estimate or any analyst reports to reference.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives and Canaccord analyst George Gianarikas asked questions on a conference call the company held to discuss the results. Investors can wait and see if those two will pick up coverage of the stock in the coming weeks.
Investors probably expected a loss. That isn’t surprising given the company’s size. VinFast shares were down 3.5%% in early trading Friday at $15.20. The
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
were up 0.3% and 0.5%, respectively.
Looking ahead, VinFast expects to deliver between 40,000 and 50,000 EVs in 2023, not including e-scooter sales. That leaves roughly 30,000 to 40,000 EVs to sell in the second half of the year.
First-half EV deliveries amounted to 11,315 units.
Investors will be looking for a little more detail about capital spending when VinFast files its full quarterly report. The company ended the second quarter with less than $70 million on the balance sheet. Some $150 million in cash was added by the August SPAC merger. The company says it has more than $2 billion in financing available from parties related to Vingroup.
At $15.95, VinFast stock is still down about 9% for the week and 83% from its record high of $93 reached shortly after the SPAC merger closed. Shares, however, are also up more than 50% from the roughly $10 level at which they were trading when the merger closed.
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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