Lucid stock slides as EV-maker misses on revenue

Lucid stock is sliding following the EV-maker’s huge revenue miss for the quarter on deliveries that fell well short of expectations.

Lucid reported Q4 deliveries of 1,932 vehicles, missing estimates for 2,813. The company’s adjusted loss per share, however, was narrower than forecast. In after hours trade on Wednesday, the stock was down as much as 9.5%.

For the quarter, Lucid reported:

Though revenue grew quarter over quarter, it was still a significant miss for the company.

Last month Lucid announced it produced 3,493 vehicles for the quarter and 7,180 for the year, topping its forecast of 6,000-7,000 vehicles for the year, however that forecast had been slashed multiple times last year. Lucid’s original forecast for 2022 had them building 20,000 vehicles for the year.

Lucid sees Q1 revenue of $600-$640 million, in-line with the ~$620 million estimated by analysts. Lucid also forecasts its 2023 production to be 10,000 to 14,000 vehicles.

“Last year was a challenging year for everyone, yet despite the extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges, the team persevered with an unrelenting focus on delivering what we believe is the best luxury sedan on the market,” said Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson in a statement.

“Lucid Air is the quintessential luxury sedan, and our goal in 2023 is to amplify our sales and marketing efforts to get this amazing product into the hands of even more customers around the world.”

A Lucid Air electric car with built-in Alexa is displayed in an Amazon booth during CES 2023, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 6, 2023.  REUTERS/Steve Marcus

A Lucid Air electric car with built-in Alexa is displayed in an Amazon booth during CES 2023, an annual consumer electronics trade show, in Las Vegas, Nevada, U.S. January 6, 2023. REUTERS/Steve Marcus

Lucid announced it had 28,000 preorders for the Air sedan, down from the 34,000 it reported in Q3 in a sign demand for its cars has waned among some consumers.

Earlier this month, Lucid announced its own $7,500 “credit” for certain Air sedans as a way to boost sales as its sole product doesn’t qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.

Management may address whether this incentive lifted pre-orders in the past few weeks on its call with investors.

Another big question likely to be addressed on the earnings call is the future of the company’s ownership structure, and its status as a public entity.

Lucid’s stock shot up a month ago on speculation Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) would buy out the remainder of the company it doesn’t own and take it private. The PIF’s stake in Lucid sits at approximately 65%.

The Lucid/PIF partnership goes beyond a financial one, however — last year Lucid announced it would be building a factory in Saudi Arabia, with a planned annual capacity of 155,000 EVs a year.

Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on Twitter and on Instagram.

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Source: https://finance.yahoo.com/news/lucid-earnings-stock-slides-as-ev-maker-misses-on-revenue-211734970.html