Why Lucid Stock is on fire today

Lucid (LCID 9.77%) The stock gave up all of its gains from August until this morning, when it rallied, up 7.3% as of 11:10 a.m. ET Wednesday.

The luxury electric vehicle (EV) maker is betting big on its upcoming Gravity SUV. Yesterday, Lucid not only presented and revealed more information about the Gravity at its Technology and Manufacturing Day event, but also offered a glimpse of its upcoming crossover. The event renewed investors’ hopes as they see better days ahead for Lucid.

The lucid changes focus on new electric vehicles and costs

Lucid has confirmed that Gravity is on track to go into production later this year. It was also said that the SUV will be equipped adzeits NACS charging connector in 2025, giving owners access to more than 15,000 superchargers.

Lucid also revealed that it will launch a mid-size SUV with a starting price below $50,000, with production expected to begin in 2026. The company emphasized its cost-effectiveness and claimed that its new crossover will offer “ same range’ as competitors, even with a smaller model. battery. The upcoming SUV will be powered by the Atlas, a state-of-the-art powertrain that Lucid announced yesterday.

Cost efficiency is the key word here, as Lucid is rapidly burning cash on its only currently available electric vehicle, the Air, which has hurt investor sentiment in its stock. For now, the support of its largest shareholder — Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, the Public Investment Fund (PIF) — is helping Lucid run its operations and invest in new electric vehicles. In August alone, Lucid received a $1.5 billion funding commitment from PIF.

Lucid’s production and deliveries are finally ramping up

At yesterday’s event, Lucid also revealed that it had delivered more cars this year through August 31 than in all of 2023, when it delivered 6,001 units.

Given that Lucid also reiterated its full-year production guidance of 9,000 units last month, its total shipments in 2024 should be significantly higher. I now expect over 60% growth in deliveries from 2023. That also means the company is clearing its Air inventory even as it shifts its focus to the Gravity SUV, which is again a good sign.