The electric dream is flickering — and one of Tesla’s biggest rivals is on life support.
Swedish automaker Polestar just announced a reverse stock split to avoid getting kicked off the Nasdaq — a last-ditch attempt to keep its stock alive. Basically, they’re combining shares to raise the price per share (like turning 10 shares worth $1 into one share worth $10). It’s a move companies make when their stock has sunk too low… and it rarely solves the real problem.
Wall Street wasn’t fooled. Polestar’s stock crashed 12% Wednesday, landing at just $0.22 per share — well below Nasdaq’s $1 minimum.
💥 Once hyped as “the Tesla of Sweden,” Polestar is now facing a perfect storm:
- Soaring debt
- Tariffs choking sales
- Delayed production
- And a fading U.S. EV market after losing the $7,500 federal tax credit.
The timing couldn’t be worse. The company is betting everything on its next model — the Polestar 4, launching in the U.S. this December. It’s sleek, futuristic… and has no rear window. 👀
But there’s a catch: Polestar’s previous best-seller, the Polestar 2, was pulled from the U.S. after tariffs hit Chinese-made cars. Now, U.S. sales rely almost entirely on the luxury $68,000 Polestar 3 SUV.
Despite a 36% revenue jump last quarter, the company’s losses keep piling up — $365 million in Q3 alone, worse than last year’s $323 million.
CEO Michael Lohscheller insists the split is part of a plan to “make operations more efficient.” Funny enough, he tried the same strategy when he ran Nikola, the now-defunct EV truck startup.
Behind the scenes, Polestar has been slashing costs, reshuffling leadership, and shifting to a dealer-based sales model to stay afloat. A mystery cash injection from parent company Geely may have bought some time — but not confidence.
And in a telling sign of retreat, Polestar is skipping U.S. and China launches for its upcoming Polestar 5 GT, focusing instead on Europe.
For a company that hit Wall Street in 2022 at $13 per share, today’s $0.22 feels like a brutal reality check.
⚡ The question everyone’s asking:
Is this the beginning of the end for the EV dream?
