Toronto, Ontario — In this weekly Tuesday Ticker, Rivian is replaced on the Nasdaq-100 index, controversial truck maker Nikola lays off almost a quarter of its workforce and a Quebec-based ADAS and sensor company makes a merger.
Rivian removed
The rumours were true—Rivian has lost its spot on the Nasdaq-100 index.
Nasdaq confirmed the news last Tuesday, announcing Rivian would be replaced with On Semiconductor Corp. on the Nasdaq-100 index.
The electric vehicle maker’s stock price has fallen more than 90 percent from its all-time high, achieved shortly after going public.
The Nasdaq-100 is a stock market index of the 100 largest nonfinancial companies on the exchange. Companies are usually removed from the group if weighted at less than 0.1 percent for two consecutive months.
Rivian will also lose its spot on the Nasdaq-100 ESG index, the Nasdaq-100 Equal-Weighted index and the Nasdaq-100 Ex-Tech sector index.
Despite the news, Rivian stock was up 6.29 percent at the time of publication.
News from Nikola
Electric truck maker Nikola is cutting 23 percent of its workforce, the company announced Friday.
Nikola said the decision was to cut “non-essential spending.” The layoff includes about 270 jobs; about 900 roles remain, said the truck maker.
The company predicts the layoff will reduce the company’s cash spending by more than $50 million annually.
The news follows Nikola’s delisting warning courtesy of NASDAQ, which came at the end of May. To keep its listing, the company must comply with NASDAQ’s minimum price rule (a share price of more than US$1 for 10 consecutive days) by November 20.
At the time of publication, shares of Nikola were trading at US$1.19 per share, down 98 percent from its highest-ever share price from June 2020.
Techy transaction
Quebec City-based automotive software company Leddartech is going public via a merger with a blank-check company led by Qualcomm Inc.’s former president.
The transaction values LeddarTech at a pro-forma equity value of US$348 million and is expected to provide LeddarTech with up to US$66 million in gross cash proceeds, Leddartech said the funds are expected to be used to fund the commercialization of its first embedded software solutions, expand its product offerings and deepen its customer engagements.
Leddartech develops and provides sensor fusion and perception software technology for autonomous vehicles and ADAS systems. Led by former Qualcomm President Derek Aberle, Prospector is a SPAC (special purpose acquisition company) that raised more than US$325 million in an IPO in 2021, intending on a merger with a tech company. The deadline for that merger was Jan. 2023; investors are said to have redeemed many of the shares.
Upon closing of the transaction, which is expected by the fourth quarter of 2023, LeddarTech is expected to be listed on Nasdaq under the ticker symbol “LDTC.”
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