Shares of Nikola (NASDAQ: NKLA) are in free fall today. They were down 11.2% as of noon ET on Tuesday. The electric vehicle (EV) stock reported its first-quarter numbers this morning, but that's not what the market's worried about. Nikola is ending a joint venture in Europe and in a surprise move, making a huge business shift: It's deviating from its core business of electric trucks to focus elsewhere.

Nikola produced 63 Tre battery-electric trucks in Q1 and delivered 31 units to dealers. Although deliveries were higher sequentially, Nikola produced more than twice as many Tre battery-electric vehicles (BEVs) in Q4.

Investors, of course, want to see the company ramp up, not reduce, production, so Nikola's latest numbers were unexpected. There is, however, a major reason behind the lower production.

Continue reading

Source Fool.com