Third-quarter EV deliveries disappoint, causing Lucid shares to fall.

• Lucid’s third-quarter EV deliveries fell short of Wall Street expectations.
• The company has begun shipping partially-assembled EVs to Saudi Arabia for final assembly.
• Lucid will report earnings after the U.S. markets close on Nov. 7.

In the third quarter, Lucid Group delivered 1,457 Air sedans to customers, which may not reassure investors concerned about demand for the expensive and luxurious electric vehicle.

The stock price of the company decreased by approximately 5% following the release of the news.

According to a survey conducted by FactSet, analysts predicted that Lucid would sell approximately 2,000 vehicles in the third quarter.

In the third quarter of 2022, Lucid's deliveries were 1,398, which is lower than the 1,404 deliveries in the second quarter but higher than the 1,398 deliveries in the third quarter of 2022.

In the given period, the company produced 1,550 Airs, with over 700 additional vehicles in transit to a new facility in Saudi Arabia for final assembly. This is lower than the 2,173 Airs built in the second quarter and 2,282 Airs a year earlier.

Last year, Saudi Arabia's government, a significant investor in Lucid, committed to purchasing at least 50,000 Lucid EVs over the next 10 years, with the option to buy an additional 50,000. Deliveries are expected to commence before the end of 2023.

The stock price of Lucid Motors has decreased by approximately 23% from the beginning of 2023 until Monday's closing. Despite receiving positive reviews and having the longest range of any electric vehicle currently available in the US, the Air is expensive. The base model, Pure, starts at $77,400 and has a range of 410 miles. The high-end Sapphire version costs $249,000 and has 1,234 horsepower.

Lucid has not updated its production guidance for the full year, despite previously stating that it expects to produce "over 10,000" vehicles in 2023. This guidance was first provided in May and reiterated in August. As of September 30, 2023, Lucid had produced 6,037 EVs, not including the units in transit to Saudi Arabia at quarter-end.

At the conclusion of the second quarter, Lucid possessed $6.25 billion in accessible liquidity, comprising $5.5 billion in cash and the rest in available credit lines, as stated by Chief Financial Officer Sherry House, which was sufficient to finance the company until 2025.