Ola Electric Shares Jump 6% After Co. Opens 3,200 New Outlets

Ola Electric Shares Jump 6% On Store Expansion, New E-Scooter Launch

SUMMARY

Shares of Ola Electric rallied more than 6% in early trading hours today (December 26) to INR 99.90 apiece on the BSE

The surge in the stock price came a day after the electric mobility startup announced the opening of 3,200 new stores in a single day, expanding its existing network of showrooms and service centres to 4,000 across the country

Ola Electric shares have lost their sheen since their public listing in August, hurt by a barrage of consumer complaints over poor after-sales service, fire incidents and founder Bhavish Aggarwal's handling of negative incidents

Shares of Ola Electric rallied more than 6% in early trading hours today (December 26), buoyed by the EV startup’s announcement that it has opened 3,200 new stores in India, expanding its existing network of showrooms and service centres to 4,000.

The stock jumped as much as 6.2% during the intraday trading to INR 99.90 on the BSE.

At the time of writing, the Bhavish Aggarwal-led company was sitting on a market capitalisation of INR 42,141.07 Cr (about $4.94 Bn).

Ola Electric made its Dalal Street debut on August 9, with its shares seeing a flat listing at INR 75.99 apiece on the BSE against the IPO issue price of 76 per share.

Buoyed by strong investor sentiment, the stock hit its all-time high at INR 157.53 on the BSE on August 20.

However, Ola Electric shares have since lost their sheen, hurt by consumer complaints against the company’s after-sales service, fire incidents, and Aggarwal’s handling of such negative incidents.

The stock has ended in red in 8 out of the last 15 trading sessions.

Further, Ola Electric has lost its market share in the electric vehicle two-wheeler segment to legacy players such as TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto over the past few months.

Ola’s market share in the EV 2W segment shrank to 24% in November from 46.1% in June, as per data from Vahan. On the other hand, the market share of TVS Motor and Bajaj Auto rose from 14.8% to 23%, and 11.3% to 22%, respectively, during the same period.

Despite these headwinds, the company is charging ahead with new product launches and entry into newer segments to shore up its revenue and attain profitability.

Most recently, the company launched a limited-edition e-scooter ‘Ola S1 Pro Sona’ and rolled out the beta version of MoveOS 5, giving Ola riders access to new features such as group navigation, live location sharing, and smart charging, among others.

Earlier this year, Ola’s chief said the company is set to enter the EV three-wheeler market to take on the likes of Euler Motors, Mahindra, Altigreen, and Bajaj Auto.

At the Ola Sankalp 2024 event, the company also unveiled its Roadster series of electric motorbikes, which are likely to hit the roads in January 2025.

The electric mobility startup managed to trim its consolidated net loss by 5.5% to INR 495 Cr in the September quarter of the financial year 2024-25 (Q2 FY25) from INR 524 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

The startup’s operating revenue zoomed almost 39% to INR 1,214 Cr during the quarter under review from INR 873 Cr posted in Q2 FY24.

Shares of Ola Electric were trading 0.86% higher at INR 94.86 apiece on the BSE at 12:20 PM.