Lotus Technology Falls Some 20% as Chinese EV Maker Gives Back Post-Earnings Pop

LOT fell as much as 23.4% to a $9.99 intraday low – more than erasing 25%+ rally that the stock saw on Wednesday after reporting well-received Q1 results.

Lotus said Wednesday that while it lost $258 million during the quarter – a 61% increase from $160 million of red ink a year earlier – revenues shot up 811% year over year to $173 million.

The company – part of British sports-car maker Lotus Group, which is itself owned by Chinese automaker Geely and Malaysia's Etika Automotive – also reported delivering 2,194 vehicles during the latest period. That's up 731% from the 264 cars that Lotus sent out in Q1 2023.

The results sent LOT rallying as much as 27.1% Wednesday to a $13.85 three-month intraday high.

However, Friday's retrenchment erased all of those gains and more, taking the stock back below the $10.90 that it closed at on Tuesday before the results came out.

Lotus shares have traded extremely volatilely since the company went public in the United States in February via a merger with special purpose acquisition company L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp.

Shares briefly popped 33.1% intraday during the stock's first session on Feb. 23, but have never reached that level again.

Instead, LOT dropped to as low as $5.50 on April 19 before heading back upward. The stock is currently about 23% below the $13.51 that L Catterton Asia Acquisition Corp. closed at one day before the Lotus merger closed.