Why Beaten-Down EV Stock Polestar Surged 21% Today

Polestar Automotive (NASDAQ: PSNY) stock zoomed today and was up 17% as of 12:20 p.m. ET after clocking 21.1% gains in the early hours of trading today. The Swedish electric vehicle (EV) maker reported a sharp sequential jump in its deliveries for the second quarter, a day after CEO Thomas Ingenlath abruptly resigned. The two updates were enough to trigger a buying frenzy in the EV stock that's lost more than 70% value in one year alone.

Polestar gets a new CEO amid falling sales

Polestar's deliveries jumped 82% to 13,150 cars in Q2 versus its first quarter. However, that headline number only reveals half the story.

Polestar's revenue still fell 26% year over year to $918 million for two reasons: Its deliveries fell 17% year over year even as higher discounts to boost sales amid rising competition ate into the EV maker's top line and margins. Polestar reported a negative gross margin of 3.2% in Q2 versus a gross margin of 1.7% in the year-ago quarter.

On the positive side, Polestar cut down its inventory by nearly 30% in Q2 versus Q4 2023 and trimmed its operating loss by 6% to around $466 million.

Should you buy Polestar stock now?

Polestar expects a "stronger" second half of 2024 driven by its two new cars -- it recently started delivering the Polestar 4 SUV coupes in Europe and expects to begin deliveries of the Polestar 3 SUV in the coming weeks. Polestar 3 is also the company's first car to be manufactured in the U.S., reflecting its efforts to expand its manufacturing footprint beyond China. The EV maker also plans to start production of Polestar 4 in South Korea in 2025.

Polestar has also announced a leadership change and appointed Michael Lohscheller, who previously led Opel, VinFast Auto , and Nikola , as its new CEO effective Oct. 1. Investors, perhaps, expect Polestar's fortunes to turn around under its new leadership, but it might be worth a wait before you follow the herd and buy the languishing, volatile stock.

Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy .