Electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors (LCID) reported a third quarter revenue beat and narrower-than-expected loss as the company gears up for the all-important release of its Gravity electric SUV.
For the quarter, Lucid reported revenue of $200 million, topping estimates of $196.3 million as compiled by Bloomberg and significantly more than the $137.8 million reported a year ago. Lucid posted an adjusted loss per share of $0.28, narrower than the loss of $0.31 expected, with adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) coming in at a loss of $613.1 million, better than the loss of $634.4 million expected.
Earlier, Lucid reported it had produced 1,805 vehicles in Q3, with deliveries coming in at 2,781. The company said today that it was on track to hit its annual production guidance of 9,000 vehicles.
“Our momentum continues with our third consecutive quarter of record deliveries,” Peter Rawlinson, Lucid CEO and chief technology officer, said in a statement. “Additionally, today we are delighted to open the order book for the much-anticipated Lucid Gravity SUV, a landmark product, which remains on track for the start of production this year.”
The company also said it ended the quarter with $5.16 billion in cash — an important runway as the company begins production of the Gravity. This does not include the approximately $1.75 billion it raised in a share sale earlier last month.
“We continue to see improvements to gross margin performance as our cost reduction efforts are gaining momentum,” said Gagan Dhingra, Lucid’s interim CFO, in a statement. “With our recent capital raise, we are pleased to have the continued support once again from both the Public Investment Fund and other institutional investors.”
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), through its affiliate Ayar Third Investment Company, is Lucid’s largest investor. Ayar purchased additional shares during the capital raise to maintain its 58.8% stake.
Lucid hopes its upcoming Gravity SUV, expected to begin production later this year, will jump-start sales by a significant margin.
“We believe that the total addressable market for Gravity is six times that of Lucid Air,” Rawlinson said in an interview with Yahoo Finance in August. Rawlinson said the company will eventually have capacity at its Arizona plant to build 90,000 Gravity SUVs per year.
The big question will be whether Lucid can build the Gravity SUV efficiently and come in below cost. The Gravity is expected to start around $80,000 in the US, right at the eligibility threshold for the federal EV tax credit.
