Lucid Motors Deliveries Drops
Luxury electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors reported disappointing fourth-quarter and full-year 2022 revenue, as well as lower-than-expected 2023 production and delivery goals, leading to a nearly 10% drop in the company’s stock price in after-hours trading. The company had been struggling with supply chain issues and had to cut its production targets in the past. However, Lucid managed to exceed its own production guidance for 2022 by producing 7,180 vehicles, out of which 4,369 were delivered in the same year.
Lucid’s 2023 annual production targets of 10,000 to 14,000 fell well short of the 20,000 to 22,000 deliveries that analysts had anticipated for the year. The company’s fourth-quarter revenue was $257.7 million, which was below analyst expectations of $302.61 million. Similarly, full-year revenue of $608.2 million missed the anticipated $661 million.
Lucid ended 2022 with a total liquidity of about $4.9 billion, including $1.7 billion in cash and cash equivalents, which the company says will fund operations until the first quarter of 2024. However, Lucid’s free cash flow was -$938,403, and it had incurred losses of $749.7 million in the fourth quarter and $2.6 billion in 2022.
Investors were also concerned about the reduced demand for the Lucid Air sedan, as the company reported 28,000 preorders for the car, down from the 34,000 reported in the third quarter. The company recently offered a $7,500 discount for certain Air sedans to boost sales, as the base price of the car is $87,400 and does not qualify for the $7,500 federal EV tax credit.
Despite the challenging results, Lucid noted that the reservation number of 28,000 did not include the up to 100,000 vehicles that the government of Saudi Arabia has agreed to buy over the next ten years. The Public Investment Fund (PIF), which holds a 62% stake in Lucid, is the fund behind this deal, and there has been speculation that the PIF may buy out the rest of Lucid and take the company private. However, Lucid did not confirm or deny these rumors during Wednesday’s earnings call. The company also plans to build a factory in Saudi Arabia with an annual capacity of 155,000 EVs.
According to data from 13 analysts, the average target price for Lucid Group Inc over the next 12 months is USD 14.86. This means that if the company meets its performance expectations, the stock is expected to increase by around 48% from its current price of USD 9.98. Additionally, the average analyst rating for Lucid Group Inc is “Buy”, indicating that analysts are generally positive about the company’s future prospects.
However, Stock Target Advisor’s own analysis of Lucid Group Inc is “Bearish”, which is based on 2 positive signals and 7 negative signals. This indicates that while there are some positive indicators for the company’s future performance, there are also several negative factors that may impact its stock price.
Over the past week, Lucid Group Inc’s stock price has declined by 9.36%, which may be due to the recent news of the company missing its revenue and production targets for the fourth quarter and full-year 2022, as well as its lowered production and delivery goals for 2023. However, over the past month, the stock price has increased by 27.62%, possibly due to the positive news of the company exceeding its production guidance for 2022.
Despite the recent fluctuations in the stock price, Lucid Group Inc’s stock price has declined by 60.88% over the past year, which may be attributed to various factors such as increased competition in the luxury electric vehicle market, the impact of the ongoing global chip shortage on production, and concerns about the company’s financial performance.
Overall, while there are both positive and negative signals about Lucid Group Inc’s future performance, investors and analysts are closely monitoring the company’s progress as it seeks to navigate through the challenges of the rapidly evolving electric vehicle market.
