First-quarter results for Lucid revealed a company with widening losses and revenue that fell short of Wall Street’s expectations, sending shares plunging as investors fretted over the demand for its luxury, all-electric Air sedan.
The shares of Lucid Group fell more than 9 percent in after-hours trading as investors reacted to the disappointing first-quarter results. Since then, shares have recovered marginally and are now 6.3% lower.
Monday, Lucid announced first-quarter revenues of $149.4 million. While the result was 2.5 times greater than the $57.7 million it generated during the same period last year, it was still less than $100 million. It was significantly under analysts’ expectations. Yahoo Finance surveyed analysts who anticipated revenue of nearly $210 million. Lucid’s first-quarter revenue was lower than the $257.7 million it reported in the fourth quarter of 2022 — another quarter in which the company fell short of analyst expectations.
Significantly, the company intends to manufacture over 10,000 vehicles in 2023. This year, Lucid reduced its 2023 vehicle goal from 20,000 to 22,000 to 10,000 to 14,000. This new guidance places the production goal at the lower end of the range.
The company is still operating at a loss, as expenses exceeded revenue. In the first quarter of 2023, Lucid reported a net loss of $779.5 million, which was significantly larger than the $81.3 million net loss reported in the first quarter of 2022.
Total costs and expenses, which include research and development, administrative, and revenue-related expenditures, increased by nearly 40% year-over-year to $921.5 million. The total amount that Lucid spent (including raw materials and labor) to produce and sell its luxury Air sedan was a focal point during the first quarter. In comparison to the same period last year, this metric doubled to $500 million in the first quarter of this year.
The company ended the quarter with $3.4 billion in cash and $4.1 billion in total liquidity, including credit lines. Sherry House, the CFO of Lucid, stated that the company believes this will be ample to finance Lucid, at least through the second half of 2024.
The business has recently taken steps to reduce expenses. As part of a restructuring, Lucid announced intentions to lay off 18% of its personnel in March. The terminations of 1,300 employees will conclude by the end of the second quarter. There will be redundancies across the organization, including executive positions. According to its earnings report released on Monday, Lucid incurred $22.4 million in restructuring costs in the first quarter.
Must Read :
