Polestar PSNY Q1 2023 earnings report

Swedish electric vehicle maker Polestar on Thursday trimmed its full-year production guidance, saying that its upcoming Polestar 3 SUV will be delayed until 2024 because of software issues.

The company also said it will cut about 10% of its workforce to reduce costs. Shares were down over 4% in premarket trading following the news.

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The news came as part of Polestar’s first-quarter earnings report.

For the period ended March 31, Polestar’s net loss was $9 million, or less than a penny per share, thanks to about $213.4 million in positive changes in the valuation of some of Polestar’s obligations related to its merger with a special-purpose acquisition company last year. A year ago, the company’s net loss was $274.5 million, or 14 cents per share.

On an adjusted basis, excluding the accounting changes, the company lost $222.4 million in the period, or about 10 cents per share.

Revenue grew to $546 million from $452.2 million a year earlier.

Polestar had $884.3 million in cash remaining as of March 31, down from $973.9 million as of the end of 2022.

Polestar cut its full-year production guidance to between 60,000 and 70,000 vehicles in 2023, down from 80,000 in its earlier outlook, because the launch of the upcoming Polestar 3 SUV will be delayed until 2024. The company had originally planned to begin deliveries of the model in China before the end of this year.

The Polestar 3 will be based on a new platform shared by Polestar and Volvo Cars. Polestar said it was “recently informed” that more time will be needed to finalize software for that new platform. It now expects to begin shipping the Polestar 3 in the first quarter of 2024.

The company’s other upcoming new model, a smaller crossover SUV called Polestar 4, is still on track to launch in China in the fourth quarter of 2023, and elsewhere in early 2024.  

“We are taking necessary steps to strengthen Polestar in the near-term,” CEO Thomas Ingenlath said. “While production of Polestar 3 will now start in the first quarter of 2024, the successful launch of Polestar 4 last month means that we add two strong offers in the attractive electric SUV market in 2024. I am confident that we will deliver on our growth ambitions and path towards profitability.”