Executive Summary

Q1 2023 revenue was $1.31M after $2.26M of recall-related customer refunds; adjusted revenue was $3.57M on 29 unit sales, with 53 units produced. Net loss was $23.44M (diluted EPS $(4.89)); management reiterated FY23 guidance ($35–$50M revenue; 300–400 unit sales; 400–450 units produced) .
Demand signals improved: a new order for 126 ZEV3/ZEV4 vans/buses expected to contribute to Q2–Q3 revenue; strong school-bus orders via Collins Bus; initial traction for Lightning Mobile DC fast charger .
Liquidity: announced a funding commitment with Yorkville Advisors for up to $50M to support growth; cash and equivalents ended Q1 at $35.45M (down from $56.01M at YE22) .
Narrative and catalysts: transition to new Class 4 GM-chassis platform, government incentives, and order momentum are near-term drivers; recall-related refunds and Romeo battery issues weighed on Q1 but management cites re-orders and replacement deliveries in Q2 .

What Went Well and What Went Wrong

What Went Well

Platform transition and customer feedback: “Customer feedback on our new Class 4 vehicles built on the GM platform has been very positive,” with demand momentum in school buses and Class 4 vehicles, and strong interest in Lightning Mobile DC fast charging .
New and incremental orders: A 126-vehicle Macnab order (Canada) is expected to contribute to Q2–Q3 revenue; school-bus orders strengthening through Collins Bus partnership .
Liquidity access: Announced up to $50M funding commitment with Yorkville Advisors to fund growth; CFO called it “a strong endorsement of Lightning’s ability to attract new capital” .

What Went Wrong

Revenue compression and unit softness: GAAP revenue fell to $1.31M (vs $5.41M in Q1’22) on 29 unit sales (vs 68 in Q1’22), with 53 units produced (vs 74 in Q1’22) as refunds related to a Romeo battery recall depressed reported revenue .
Gross loss widened with higher operating expense base: Q1 gross loss was $(6.84)M on $8.15M cost of revenues; SG&A was $14.85M and R&D $2.09M, contributing to a $(23.78)M operating loss .
EPS deterioration: Net loss was $(23.44)M (diluted EPS $(4.89)), worse than Q1’22’s $(10.76)M (diluted EPS $(2.86)) as recall costs and lower volumes weighed on results .

Financial Results

Results by quarter (oldest → newest)

Metric	Q3 2022	Q4 2022	Q1 2023
Revenue ($USD Millions)	$11.13	$4.33	$1.31
Gross Profit (Loss) ($USD Millions)	$(3.45)	$(4.73)	$(6.84)
Net Income (Loss) ($USD Millions)	$(1.23)	$(8.58)	$(23.44)
Diluted EPS ($USD)	$(0.02)	$(0.11)	$(4.89)
Adjusted EBITDA ($USD Millions)	$(16.96)	$(19.93)	$(19.72)
Units Produced (vehicles + powertrains)	104	128	53
Units Sold	93	31	29
Cash & Equivalents ($USD Millions)	$95.80	$56.01	$35.45

Q1 2023 vs Estimates

Metric	Q1 2023 Consensus	Q1 2023 Actual
Revenue ($USD Millions)	N/A (consensus unavailable via S&P Global)	$1.31
Diluted EPS ($USD)	N/A (consensus unavailable via S&P Global)	$(4.89)

Note: We attempted to retrieve S&P Global consensus for ZEVY but it was unavailable in our system mapping at this time.

Additional Q1 2023 KPIs

KPI	Q1 2023
Adjusted Revenue ($USD Millions)	$3.57
Customer Refunds ($USD Millions)	$2.26
Recall-related cost driver	Romeo battery-related buybacks/refunds

Guidance Changes

Metric	Period	Previous Guidance	Current Guidance	Change
Revenue	FY 2023	$35–$50M	$35–$50M	Maintained
Unit Sales	FY 2023	300–400	300–400	Maintained
Unit Production	FY 2023	400–450	400–450	Maintained

Earnings Call Themes & Trends

Note: A Q1 2023 earnings call transcript was not available in our corpus; themes reference the company’s quarterly press releases.

Topic	Previous Mentions (Q3’22, Q4’22)	Current Period (Q1’23)	Trend
Platform transition (GM chassis, Class 4 focus)	Q4’22: “New Class 4 platform built on GM chassis ready for volume production in Q2 2023; strategic focus on Class 4+ segments” .	CEO: Positive customer feedback on Class 4 GM platform; demand momentum in Class 4 buses/shuttles .	Focus increasing (execution phase)
Supplier/recall (Romeo batteries)	Q4’22: Supplier quality issues held back shipments in Q4 and early 2023 .	Q1: GAAP revenue depressed by refunds related to buybacks of vehicles with defective Romeo batteries; re-orders underway .	Headwind moderating (re-orders offset)
Government incentives as demand driver	Q3’22: IRA $40K commercial EV credit; EPA/FTA funding tailwinds .	Q1’23: Company helping customers navigate incentives; seeing orders .	Improving demand support
Order momentum	Q3’22: New partnerships (e.g., GoBolt) expanding deployments .	Q1’23: 126-unit Macnab order to benefit Q2–Q3; Collins school-bus orders strong .	Strengthening
Liquidity/funding	Q4’22: Convertible note exchanges reduced debt/interest .	Q1’23: Up to $50M Yorkville funding commitment to fund growth .	Improving access
Charging & tech (Lightning Mobile)	Prior materials focused on vehicles; charging referenced as part of suite .	Q1’23: “Initial customer response to our Lightning Mobile DC Fast Charger has been tremendous” .	Growing emphasis

Management Commentary

CEO strategic message: “Customer feedback on our new Class 4 vehicles built on the GM platform has been very positive… Macnab order… and sizeable orders for Type A school buses from Collins… strong demand momentum for shuttle buses and other Class 4 zero-emission vehicles… initial customer response to our Lightning Mobile DC Fast Charger has been tremendous. We believe we are on track to achieve our stated annual revenue guidance of $35–$50 million” .
On Romeo battery impact and customer behavior: “The lower GAAP revenue resulted from… we bought back vehicles with defective Romeo batteries. Many of those customers have placed new orders with us, and some have already received their new vehicles in Q2” .
CFO on funding: “Agreement with Yorkville Advisors… up to $50 million of capital… to fund our growth strategy… a strong endorsement of Lightning’s ability to attract new capital and provide returns for investors” .

Q&A Highlights

The Q1 2023 earnings call transcript was not available in our corpus; no Q&A detail to report. Webcast details were provided in the press release .

Estimates Context

Wall Street consensus via S&P Global was unavailable for ZEVY in our system mapping at this time; therefore we cannot provide revenue or EPS consensus for Q1 2023 or quantify beats/misses relative to S&P Global. We attempted retrieval but the data was not available for this ticker mapping.
Given the lack of consensus inputs, we anchor analysis on reported figures and management’s reiterated FY23 guidance .

Key Takeaways for Investors

Reported revenue was depressed by recall-related refunds, but adjusted revenue and management commentary indicate underlying demand tied to the GM Class 4 platform, school-bus channel, and a 126-unit Macnab order that should benefit Q2–Q3 revenue cadence .
FY23 guidance was maintained across revenue, unit sales, and production, signaling confidence despite Q1 headwinds; watch order conversion and production ramp vs. 400–450 units targeted for the year .
Liquidity runway improved with an up to $50M Yorkville commitment; cash declined to $35.45M in Q1 from $56.01M in Q4—monitor cash burn and draw cadence .
The Romeo battery issue is being remediated via buybacks and replacement deliveries; management notes re-orders and deliveries already occurring in Q2—track gross margin recovery as refund impacts abate .
Execution on Class 4 GM-based products and Lightning Mobile DC fast charging adoption are potential upside catalysts, especially as customers access federal/state incentives with company assistance .
Near-term trading setup hinges on tangible Q2 shipments from Macnab/Collins and production acceleration; any slippage vs. reiterated FY23 guide would be a negative catalyst, while on-time deliveries and improved revenue run-rate would likely be supportive .

Source Documents Read (Q1 2023)

Q1 2023 Earnings Press Release (8-K Item 2.02; EX-99.1) .
Q1 2023 Production Update Press Release (April 6, 2023) .
Prior Quarters for Trend: Q4 2022 Press Release (8-K; EX-99.1) ; Q3 2022 Press Release (8-K; EX-99.1) .

Lightning eMotors, Inc. (ZEVY)·Q1 2023 Earnings Summary