A Lucid Air electric vehicle (EV) at the company’s showroom in Tysons, Virginia, US, on Saturday, Feb. 17, 2024.
Samuel Corum | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Lucid Group on Tuesday softened its production outlook for the rest of the year as it reported second-quarter earnings that missed Wall Street expectations.
The electric vehicle maker now anticipates producing between 18,000 and 20,000 vehicles for the year after previously projecting a goal of 20,000.
Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff told CNBC on Tuesday that the company is still aiming for the high end of that range.
“I have never seen so many surprises within a year as this year,” he said. “So all of those plans are still set up for where we were before, but we just want to be a little bit more cautious and, therefore, provide a range.”
Shares of Lucid fell more than 7% in after-hours trading Tuesday.
Here’s what the company reported in the three-month period that ended on June 30 compared with what Wall Street was expecting, based on a survey of analysts by LSEG:
- Loss per share: 24 cents adjusted vs. a loss of 21 cents expected
- Revenue: $259 million vs. $280 million expected
The company reported a net loss for the quarter of $855 million, or 28 cents per share, compared with a net loss of $790 million, or 34 cents per share, in the same period last year. Excluding restructuring and other one-time costs, the company posted an adjusted loss per share of 24 cents for the quarter.
Lucid’s total costs and expenses were up roughly 7.5% from the same period last year, at $1.06 billion.
The automaker said it ended the quarter with roughly $4.86 billion in total liquidity.
“We are focused on business fundamentals to achieve our near-term goals: disciplined cost management, brand building, and continuing to execute our Lucid Gravity launch ramp,” Chief Financial Officer Taoufiq Boussaid said in a release.
Last month, Lucid announced Uber would invest $300 million in the company as part of a partnership to deploy more than 20,000 robotaxis over the next six years. It’s also been trying to build its brand awareness, in part by tapping actor Timothée Chalamet to star in a new ad campaign.
But Lucid has been burning through cash as it works to ramp up production of its Gravity SUV, its second vehicle after the Air sedan. Winterhoff said he had hoped to be further along in ramping up the Gravity’s production at this point in the year, but that the company was still facing some supply chain constraints.
Lucid said in July that it delivered 3,309 vehicles in the second quarter, a 38.2% increase compared with the same period in 2024, but short of analysts’ expectations.
Demand for pure electric vehicles has been slower than expected, and consumers have been gravitating toward cheaper hybrids.
The industry is also bracing for the effects of President Donald Trump’s new tax-and-spending bill, which he signed into law on July 4. That legislation is set to end the $7,500 tax credit for new electric vehicles and $4,000 credit for used EVs after Sept. 30.
Lucid stock has fallen nearly 19% so far this year as of Tuesday’s close.