Photo by Trump White House Archive on Flickr

Several top Lordstown Motors Corp (RIDE) executives offloaded stakes in February, just weeks before the electric vehicle startup was scheduled to report its first quarterly earnings as a listed company, filings with the U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission show.

What Happened: The sell-off by key executives, that include the company’s president, its former chief financial officer, and directors, came in weeks before the company provided rosy guidance and reiterated plans to begin producing its Endurance electric pickup truck in September as planned, with a plan to build its test vehicles by March.

Five top Lordstown executives sold more than $8 million worth stock in just over three days in February, as per SEC filings. The Wall Street Journal first reported the news.

Chuan John Vo, vice president of propulsion, who oversees Lordstown’s propulsion division, sold a stake of over $2.5 million on Feb. 2 and was left with 717 shares, as per the company filings. President Rich Schmidt shed about $4.6 million worth of equity over two days and used the proceeds to expand another venture that he had started recently, as per WSJ.

Other executives, including the electric vehicle company’s former finance chief, sold smaller holdings in February, filings show.

Why It Matters: The Ohio-based electric vehicle startup issued a “going concern” warning and days later CEO Steve Burns and CFO Julio Rodriguez resigned from their positions. Company President Rich Schmidt followed with an announcement that Lordstown had binding truck orders but subsequently backtracked from the comment.

On Monday, Lordstown Motors opened up its Ohio factory for analysts and reporters to demonstrate the abilities of its prototypes to win back the investor confidence, as per a New York Times report.

Price Action: RIDE shares closed 5.45% lower at $10.07 on Monday.