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Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) shares plunged Thursday following its latest earnings release, which revealed demand fell during the quarter.
The electric vehicle maker topped earnings expectations, reporting a loss per share of $0.28, $0.14 better than the analyst estimate of a loss of $0.42 per share.
However, revenue missed expectations by a wide margin, coming in at $257.7 million versus the consensus estimate of $329.21M.
In addition, Lucid forecasts 2023 production between 10,000 and 14,000 vehicles, below analyst consensus expectations, with analysts expecting a number upwards of 20,000.
In addition, in 2022, Lucid produced 7,180 vehicles, exceeding the 2022 annual production guidance of 6,000 to 7,000 vehicles, but it only delivered 4,369.
The company said it faced a challenging year as a result of the “extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges.”
Following the release, analysts at BofA and Exane BNP Paribas downgraded Lucid Group, while other firms such as Evercore ISI, Cantor Fitzgerald, and R.F. Lafferty, cut price targets for the stock.
BofA analysts downgraded Lucid Group shares to Neutral from Buy, cutting the firm’s price target on the stock to $10 from $18.
“Given 4Q:22 results, the light 2023 outlook, and lower than expected 2023 production forecast (10k-14k) we are materially lowering our 2023 estimates,” wrote the analysts. “In addition, we are pushing out 2024+ estimates and now expect it could take until 2027+ to breakeven on an operating and free cash flow basis (prior 2026). Therefore, LCID will need to raise more capital sooner than we had previously expected.”
Even so, they said the firm still believes Lucid is “one of the most attractive among the universe of start-up EV automakers.”
