Nikola (NKLA) Teams Up With SAIA and Heniff for BEV Trucks

Nikola Corporation NKLA recently collaborated with Saia (NASDAQ:SAIA) LTL Freight, a less-than-truckload (LTL) company, as it seeks to accelerate the implementation of its heavy-duty electric transportation trucks. The collaboration includes a Letter of Intent (LOI) to purchase or lease 100 Nikola Tre heavy-duty battery electric vehicles (BEVs) following the successful completion of a demonstration program.

Under the demonstration program, which is supposed to begin in the first half of 2022, three BEV trucks are to be operated in distinct locations across the Saia network and deliveries of 100 production vehicles are scheduled to be carried out between 2022 and 2024 with the initial 25 targeted for this year.

It is noteworthy that Saia is a veteran in the transportation domain with a history of nearly 100 years. Its goal is to engage in sustainable business practices to reduce the environmental impact. Saia inches closer to realize its goal with the Nikola Tre BEV chain as it continuously improves the fuel economy of the Saia fleet to minimize its carbon footprint and economizes resource usage.

Management noted that with Saia as its key development partner, Nikola hits another milestone in its journey toward delivering zero-emission vehicles and energy solutions.

In another development for NKLA’s Tre BEV products, Heniff Transportation Systems, LLC intends to purchase 10 Nikola Tre BEV trucks from Thompson Truck Centers, a member of the Nikola Corporation sales and service dealer network.

The agreement is based on a fleet-as-a-service model wherein Thompson will provide the sales, service, maintenance and energy infrastructure required to operate the Nikola Tre BEV trucks. Deliveries are expected to begin from the first half of this year.

Per the deal, both companies agreed to pursue the placement of an additional 90 trucks into Heniff’s fleet once the initial deployment of 10 units into the bulk transport operation is completed successfully.

Heniff is a family of companies known to stand out as a leader in liquid bulk transportation, rail trans-loading, ISO depot operations, tank cleaning and related maintenance. It has an unmatched integrated freight network with nearly 100 locations connected nationwide and more than 2,000 tractors.

A test ride with the Nikola Tre BEV at NKLA’s Arizona facility made Heniff confident about the truck’s power, performance, engineering and quality. It believes, the partnership with Nikola and Thompson will speed up its electrification strategy and generate value for its customers, communities, employees and stakeholders alike. The tie-up will also enable Heniff to aim for zero-emission transportation with a first-class dealer support.

To be in sync with the dynamic electric vehicles market, Thompson is also keen on delivering innovative products to meet the new standards of zero-emission transportation.

Nikola currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). NKLA is contending for a niche in the electric vehicle market. It plans to produce both battery-electric and fuel-cell semi-trucks as well as establish a hydrogen fueling network.

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Better-ranked peers in the same space include Goodyear GT, flaunting a Zacks Rank #1 (Strong Buy), and Fox Factory Holdings FOXF and Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) TSLA, each carrying a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) at present. You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank stocks here.

Goodyear has an expected earnings growth rate of 197% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for current-year earnings has been revised 77% upward over the past 60 days.

Goodyear’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters. GT pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 228.5%, on average. Its shares have also gained 95.5% over a year.

Fox Factory has an expected earnings growth rate of 48.2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-year earnings has been revised around 2% upward over the past 60 days.

Fox Factory’s bottom line beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in all the trailing four quarters. FOXF delivered a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of roughly 16%, on average. Its shares have rallied 38.3% over a year.

Tesla has an expected earnings growth rate of 173.2% for the current year. The Zacks Consensus Estimate for the current-year earnings has been revised around 7% upward over the past 60 days.

Tesla’s earnings beat the Zacks Consensus Estimate in three of the trailing four quarters. TSLA pulled off a trailing four-quarter earnings surprise of 25.4%, on average. The stock has also rallied 44.8% over a year.

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