An EV meme stock is tanking on abysmal earnings

The electric vehicle industry’s one and only “meme stock” was down in the dumps Wednesday, as Faraday Future Intelligent Electric faces a bumpy road through 2024.

The EV startup’s stock tanked more than 33% in pre-market trading Wednesday, just a day after it reported earnings for the 2023 fiscal year.

Los Angeles-based Faraday reported $800,000 in revenue and a $432 million net loss while holding onto $4 million in cash. As of May 23, Faraday had about $5 million on hand, including restricted cash of about $2 million.

Adding to worries about the startup, Faraday has withdrawn its production guidance for 2024, citing current market conditions and a lack of funding. In November, executives said the company planned to assemble 1,000 vehicles this year, “subject to availability of requisite capital.”

After a five-year production delay, Faraday last August finally delivered its first FF 91 2.0 Futurist Alliance to customers; the $309,000 electric crossover SUV was first unveiled in 2017. Overall, the startup sold a whopping four EVs and leased six in 2023.

“2023 was a milestone year for FF,” CEO Matthias Aydt said in a statement. “We transitioned to a phase of growth that focuses on production and revenue generation, establishing FF’s position in the ultra-luxury and high-performance EV market.”

Faraday said Tuesday that it may be delisted from the Nasdaq over its failure to report its first-quarter earnings. The company was hit with a prior delisting notice from the Nasdaq in December because of rules requiring stocks to close at a minimum share price of $1.

In February, Faraday announced plans for a reverse stock split, its second stock split in less than half a year after a series of issues decimated its value.

Despite all that, Faraday stock has climbed 2,825% in May and currently trades at about 80 cents per share. The stock was worth less than five cents per share when the month began.

But that was before Faraday got caught up in this month’s meme stock rally.

Earlier this month, “Roaring Kitty” — the online persona of American investor Keith Patrick Gill, who is known for igniting GameStop’s massive meme stock short squeeze in 2021 — posted on X after a three-year hiatus, sending GameStop stock up as much as 110% and halting trading several times. AMC and a handful of other stocks — including Faraday — also caught the tailwinds of the renewed meme stock frenzy.

Faraday stock skyrocketed more than 100% on some days. At one point during the frenzy, the stock had registered an 8,359.9% gain and hit $3.90 per share, before shedding a large chunk of those gains.