Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
In the first days of the year, the Biden administration released final rules detailing tax credits for clean hydrogen energy under the Inflation Reduction Act (IRA), sending higher shares of industry players such as Nikola, Plug Power, and Constellation.
The Treasury Department’s final rules included provisions extending tax credits to certain nuclear power plants, aiming to incentivize hydrogen production with low carbon emissions.
New President, New Rules
However, as one of his first executive orders, President Donald Trump instructed earlier this week all government agencies to “immediately pause the disbursement of funds” from the two acts of government that created subsidies for the clean hydrogen industry.
The executive order, which Trump referred to as addressing the “Green New Scam,” halts all federal agency disbursements associated with the climate laws of his predecessor, Joe Biden.
The pause impacts commitments by the Department of Energy, which has already allocated over $170 billion in grants and loans for various energy projects, and the Environmental Protection Agency.
As of the time of writing, Nikola shares are trading 7% lower at $1.08. Earlier this Thursday, the stock hit a new record low at $1.05.
Delayed Q4 Figures
Adding to investor concerns, Nikola has still not reported its production and sales figures from the last quarter. The truck maker’s figures have historically been disclosed within the first four days of each quarter, as seen on January 4, April 4, July 2, and October 2 of 2024.
However, on the 23rd day of 2025, the numbers are still unknown.
Since January 6, Nikola’s stock has plunged nearly 44%, trading precariously close to the Nasdaq’s $1.00 threshold, which is necessary to avoid delisting.
Last June, Nikola’s Board of Directors approved a 1-for-30 reverse stock split to shore up the share price. Despite this measure, the stock is once again at risk of falling below the $1 threshold.
The company sold 88 hydrogen fuel cell electric trucks in the third quarter of 2024, up 22 percent from the 72 units registered between April and June. For the first three quarters of the year, Nikola sold 200 hydrogen fuel cell trucks, and 235 total since the truck went on sale in late 2023.
As reported earlier this Wednesday, the company’s head of global sales Ryan Clayton said Nikola is looking forward to a “really good” year producing and delivering both hydrogen-powered and battery electric trucks.
In mid-November, the company announced a recall of 72 of its 2022-2023 battery electric (BEV) trucks due to a defect in the instrument cluster display. The trucks had been recently re-delivered to the customers following the biggest recall which forced Nikola to fix all units delivered until then.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
