Once upon a time, Mullen Automotive (NASDAQ:MULN) was an Electric Vehicle (EV) investor’s dream. That’s the first part of this MULN stock analysis.
It became a nightmare.
There are still well-meaning folks pumping the stock. I think they’re mistaken.
This is a company that made 231 vehicles in the last quarter.
Mullen lost $61.4 million during that time, sending out invoices worth $17.3 million on 396 vehicles. This is described as its best financial performance yet. The company ended the quarter with $81 million in cash.
The Dream
I have been following Mullen off and on for some years now, and the story is intriguing.
Mullen was founded in the early 2010s by David Michery, who was originally a music producer. Over the years he has promised a sports car and an SUV. What he’s been delivering are cargo vans.
In the 2010s it was easy to collect investor money by promising to make an EV. The next step, by 2019, was to make one, preferably a great one. As Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) grew, it became necessary to produce EVs in quantity. Today, if you want to compete, you need to be ready to make an EV that retails at $25,000, for a profit. This is central to this MULN stock analysis.
Mullen is stuck in 2019. In 2024 it is five years behind where the market needs it to be.
While struggling to catch up, Michery has led many transactions to keep Mullen afloat. This started with buying a payments company called Net Element in order to go public in 2020. Mullen then bought two other failing car companies out of bankruptcy in 2022. One of them, Electric Last Mile Solutions (ELMS), was accused of passing off Chinese imports as American made by short analyst Fuzzy Panda in early 2022. When I wrote about the ELMS transaction in December 2022, Mullen was worth $360 million.
The Fall
A 2022 report by Hindenburg Research called Mullen “one of “the worst [electric vehicle] hustles” in recent history.” This seemed to hasten Mullen’s fall from the market’s grace.
It didn’t happen right away. Even 9 months after the Hindenburg report Citadel Securities was still buying Mullen shares.
During 2023 Mullen executed three reverse splits to keep its NASDAQ listing. The first was 1 for 25 in May. Then came a 1 for 9 in August. Our Eddie Pan warned that month that time was ticking on the stock.
This was followed by a 1 for 100 reverse-split in December. As a result, one of today’s $7 shares would have cost you $363,000 back in the Electric Vehicle (EV) heyday of 2020. Mullen’s market cap is now $41 million.
Along the way Michery sued Charles Schwab (NASDAQ:SCHW) and Fidelity for what he termed “illegal naked short selling.”
Investors have lost a lot of money on Mullen, but Michery has done well. He maintains a base salary of $750,000 and had himself granted “performance awards” worth $40 million last September. Maybe that’s why successful CEOs, like Elon Musk, get mad when courts stand against their most outlandish demands.
The Bottom Line
Hope hasn’t completely died. Mullen has just signed two dealers for trucks from its Bollinger subsidiary.
I’m not breaking any new ground, suggesting Michery may have engaged in shenanigans while keeping Mullen afloat. That’s not my job.
I just don’t think investors should throw good money after bad. There are some great speculations in this market. There are great companies whose stocks are undervalued. You can even get Bitcoin (BTC:USD).
But when you have been taken for a ride, don’t get back on. The ride is over at Mullen Automotive. This concludes this MULN stock analysis.
As of this writing, Dana Blankenhorn had a LONG position in SCHW. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
Dana Blankenhorn has been a financial and technology journalist since 1978. He is the author of Technology’s Big Bang: Yesterday, Today and Tomorrow with Moore’s Law, available at the Amazon Kindle store. Write him at danablankenhorn@gmail.com, tweet him at @danablankenhorn, or subscribe to his free Substack newsletter.