In May 2019, former President Donald Trump tweeted that Workhorse, an electric vehicle manufacturer, would buy GM’s closed factory in Lordstown, Ohio, causing Workhorse’s shares to increase. Workhorse’s stock has soared since then, along with the assumption that it could make the next USPS mail truck. Friends, it won’t be.
The US Postal Service announced Tuesday that instead of Oshkosh Defense, a Wisconsin-based contractor, will succeed, cutting Workhorse’s share price in half almost instantly. Wednesday, Workhorse released the following statement, which is identical to the statement I made in high school after inviting someone to the ball and being rejected:
On February 23, 2021, the USPS issued a press release announcing that it had made a concession under the NGDV contract to a competing finalist, details of which can be found on here. After being informed of the decision of the USPS, the Company requested, in accordance with the rules of the bidding process, additional information from the USPS and awaits a response at this time. The Company intends to explore all avenues available to non-award winning finalists in a government bidding process. As new updates are provided, Workhorse intends to share this information through the appropriate communication channels, to the extent that the company is allowed to do so.
According to The New York Times, Workhorse had less than $ 1 million in revenue in the first three quarters of 2020, while Oshkosh had $ 8.4 billion in revenue in 2019 alone. Workhorse also has around 130 employees, while Oshkosh has more than 14,000. The mail truck contract, however, provides for up to 165,000 new mail trucks over a ten-year period, which means that it is possible that Workhorse’s tiny size has doomed him alone.
All of which means that this is a major, possibly fatal flaw for Workhorse, although it still has your other lines of business, in addition to its 10 percent investment in Lordstown Motors, the electric truck maker that unveiled its Endurance at Trump’s White House. That day, thanks to his investment in Lordstown, Workhorse saw its stock go up 16 percent. It’s a good thing that Trump is still in the White House to give a boost … wait, I’m hearing the opposite … hmm.