- Mullen Automotive stock trades 9% lower on Tuesday.
- On Monday, Mullen announced the start of production for its Class 1 EV van.
- Effective November 2, the Mullen One received approval from the EPA for its Class 1 vehicle.
- MULN stock held above the 9-day SMA over the past several sessions for the first time since mid-September.
Mullen Automotive (MULN) stock broke below the 9-day Simple Moving Average (SMA) midway through Tuesday’s session, down 9%, and is holding tightly to $0.28 for support. The previous four sessions saw MULN close above that SMA for the first time in nearly two months. A favorite retail electric vehicle (EV) stock, MULN has been in a short-term uptrend for the past two weeks as production of its two primary commercial vehicles has ramped up.
All three major indices have advanced on Tuesday with the NASDAQ Composite leading the pack. Uber (UBER) rose slightly despite its quarterly revenue miss, and the market awaits Rivian (RIVN) results after the close.
Mullen stock news: Mullen One now in full production after Certificate of Conformity
On Monday, Mullen announced that it had received the Certificate of Conformity from the US Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) for its Class 1 EV delivery van – the similarly named Mullen ONE. This gives Mullen the ability to begin shipping the vehicle to customers and distributors after full production began at the beginning of the month.
The EPA approval has been a long time coming for CEO David Michery’s upstart company. At the end of 2022, Mullen announced that its primary distributor, Randy Marion Automotive, had agreed to a $200 million contract for 6,000 Mullen ONEs.
Last week the company said they were still on target to deliver 300 Mullen ONEs by the end of the year and another 6,000 vehicles in 2024.
The smaller commercial delivery van is a significant milestone for the company since its initial wholesale contract is much larger than the one for its Class 3 semi-truck chassis, which is named the Mullen THREE. That commercial vehicle has been in production since August, and Randy Marion Automotive has agreed to a $63 million purchase order for 1,000 units.
Mullen delivered ten Mullen THREEs in late September and says it’s on target to deliver another 140 by the end of 2023. A full 850 Mullen THREEs are then slated for delivery in 2024.
The Mullen ONE has a starting MSRP of $34,500, but the EPA has approved it for a $7,500 federal US tax credit that will drive the full price down to $27,000.
In other news, Mullen Automotive is now in a blackout period until it delivers its 10-K filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), which it plans to do on December 29. In the meantime, the company will hold a shareholder meeting on December 15 in order to vote on the company’s plan to keep its NASDAQ listing by effecting a reverse stock split.
Mullen Automotive FAQs
Mullen Automotive is a publicly-traded development-stage electric vehicle company based in Brea, California that typically uses outside partnerships to manufacture its vehicles. The company was founded in 2014 and currently sells self-designed electric delivery vehicles. Besides its commercial offerings, Mullen plans to begin manufacturing its Mullen FIVE EV crossover in late 2024 or early 2025. Mullen Automotive went public on the NASDAQ exchange through a reverse merger in late 2021.
David Michery has been the company’s CEO since he founded and incorporated the company in 2014. The existing company came from the merging of CODA Automotive and Mullen Motor Cars through acquisition. Michery is joined by Chief Financial Officer Jonathan New, Chief Commercial Officer John Schwegman and President of the Automotive Division Calin Popa.
Through a partnership with Randy Marion Automotive Group, Mullen distributes its Mullen One delivery van that has an electric range of 110 miles. Through an agreement with a Chinese manufacturer and distributor based in Ireland, the company also distributes the Mullen-GO Commercial Urban Delivery EV in Europe. In July 2023, Mullen will begin commercial production at its facility in Mississippi of its Class 3 EV Cab Chassis long-haul truck for immediate delivery. Through its 60% ownership stake in Bollinger Motors, Mullen will also reap the benefits of that company’s B1 SUV and B2 pickup truck, as well as other commercial vehicles in the future. The Mullen FIVE crossover vehicle is not slated for production until at least late 2024, but it is already taking reservations.
Mullen has been diluting its stock since going public in late 2021. This is because the company as of yet currently has little revenue from operations and no profits. The stock has fallen over 99% since the company’s reverse merger in November 2021, and the rapid dilution is mostly to blame. Taking into account Mullen’s 1-for-25 reverse stock split on May 4, 2023, Mullen had 33,338,727 shares outstanding on September 30, 2022, but 126,281,274 shares on March 31, 2023. The company is allowed to sell up to 200 million shares under current authorization.
Mullen Automotive stock forecast
Mullen stock is clinging to the 9-day SMA on the daily chart on Tuesday. The past few sessions have been the first time since mid-September that MULN stock has been able to hold above this moving average, and it will be more bad news for the stock’s fanbase if this breaks again.
On Monday, MULN temporarily rose above the 21-day SMA but then closed below it. Not since September 25 has the stock closed above this moving average, demonstrating the topside pressure on the EV stock.
News that Mullen shareholders will be voting on a reverse stock split for the third time this year in mid-December has the market feeling less confident. Additionally, the company is extending its $25 million buyback program, which was supposed to complete by the end of the year, by an additional six months. This means there may be reduced internal buying in the short term.
The support from late October near $0.22 is the only other supportive structure for traders at the moment, while bulls would want to target the October 26 range high just under $0.36. With longer topside wicks on the daily candlestick chart over the past two weeks, the upside appears limited.
MULN daily chart
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