Shares of Lucid Group (LCID -1.39%), the maker of luxury Air electric vehicles (EVs), disappointed investors again on Tuesday with another underwhelming earnings report.
As of 1:45 p.m. ET, the stock was down 13.4%.
Image source: Lucid.
Lucid keeps losing money
Lucid has struggled since going public as the company has only sold a relatively small number of cars and has put up wide losses every quarter of its history.
That pattern continued in the first quarter even as revenue topped estimates.
The company produced 1,728 vehicles in Q1 and said it was on track to produce 9,000 vehicles this year, a slight improvement from a year ago. It also delivered 1,967 cars, a positive sign for demand as revenue jumped 40% to $172.7 million, ahead of the consensus at $157 million.
While that was a good sign, Lucid remained deeply unprofitable. The company made some progress in improving margins but reported a negative gross profit of $232 million, or a gross margin of -134%.
Its generally accepted accounting principles (GAAP) loss in the period was $729.9 million, a slight improvement from a loss of $772.2 million in the year-ago quarter. On the bottom line, its per-share loss improved from $0.43 to $0.30, but that was worse than the consensus at $0.25.
Lucid's liquidity still looks secure at $5 billion after raising $1 billion from an affiliate of the Saudi Public Investment Fund. Still, the company is rapidly burning cash as it had a free-cash-flow loss of more than $700 million
What's next for Lucid
All eyes are on the launch of Lucid's Gravity SUV, which is due to go on sale in late 2024.
In order for the company to scale up and reach profitability, it will need to build out its lineup, and the Gravity is a key part of that strategy.
Keep your eye on the Gravity as its reception could make or break the business. In the meantime, the stock is likely to struggle as the EV sector continues to endure a correction as demand growth in electric vehicles has slowed substantially.
