Lucid had some good and some bad news for investors when it announced its results for the first quarter of 2024. The bad? The fledgling EV maker posted larger-than-expected losses for Q1 of this year.
The good news is that production of the Gravity SUV is scheduled to begin towards the end of 2024, one year after its grand unveiling at the Los Angeles Auto Show.
For the first quarter of 2024, Lucid Motors registered sales revenue of $172.7 million USD, actually more than the $150.1 million forecast, and almost 16 percent more than a year ago. However, loss per share amounted to $0.30, above estimates of $0.25.
“Our sales momentum is building, our focus upon cost remains relentless, and we believe Gravity is on track to become the best SUV in the world,” said Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson. He confirmed that production of that SUV should begin towards the end of 2024.
After that, the company confirmed it’s targeting a late 2026 debut for the follow-up, a mid-size SUV.
Precarious times
But let's not put the cart before the horse. Breaking into the market isn't easy for new firms in the EV sector, and it’s hard to predict Lucid's financial position in a year's time.
In April this year, the group announced it had produced 1,728 vehicles in the first quarter, while it delivered 1,967 in the same period. (In the fourth quarter of 2023, it assembled 2,391 units, but delivered just 1,734.) Those recent figures showing more deliveries than production represent excellent news for investors, because it means the company isn’t accumulating inventories of unsold models.
Lucid hopes to produce 9,000 EVs in 2024. In 2023, it produced 8,428 of them and 6,001 were delivered to customers.
It's clear from all the figures, however, that Lucid's recent price cuts (February) have helped sales, while hurting profit margins. Yahoo Finance reports that the company's capital expenditure reached $198.2 million in the first quarter and is expected to rise to $1.5 billion for the whole of d2024.
Regarding its financial position, Lucid said it had $4.62 billion in cash and cash equivalents, enough liquidity to last until the second quarter of 2025. Lucid announced at the end of March that it had reached a financing agreement with majority shareholder Ayar Third Investment Company for an investment of $1 billion. Ayar is a subsidiary of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund (PIF).
Needless to say, this partnership is of vital importance to the company. As Peter Rawlinson points out in his press release.
Still, Lucid have to make a profit eventually. In February, Lucid reported a net loss of $654 million for the fourth quarter of 2023. For the calendar year 2023, it reported a net loss of $2.8 billion. In 2022, the company’s ledgers were $1.3 billion in the red. For the first three months of 2024, losses totaled $685 million.
Taking into account Monday's post-market developments, Lucid's shares are now down more than 32 percent year-to-date.