Lucid Stock Dips Under $3 Ahead of Big Milestone—Should You Buy?

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Lucid Motors, the Saudi-backed luxury EV startup, is approaching its make-or-break moment. After the company exceeded its production target and delivered a record number of Air sedans, its first and only model, Lucid is getting ready to release its SUV, the Lucid Gravity. Game changer? Or more like... game on? Let’s find out.

Lucid stock LCID slipped under the $3 handle on Wednesday after it had advanced all the way to $3.60 on the upbeat news that it delivered a record number of luxury EV sedans in the fourth quarter.

Lucid, which is backed by Saudi Arabia’s sovereign wealth fund, delivered a record 3,099 Air sedans in the three months to December, up from 2,781 units in the prior three-month stretch.

What’s more, Lucid exceeded its own production guidance for 2024 — 9,029 slick-looking wheels rolled off the assembly line, surpassing the 9,000 projected. Deliveries for the full 2024 came in at 10,241.

Now, the next milestone looms. The commercial launch of its sports utility vehicle (SUV) — Lucid Gravity is nearly here. The bad boy is already available for purchase and it’s getting ready to hit the roads in the coming weeks. The company kicked off production on time, as promised, before the end of 2024 and opened the hotline for orders.

The Gravity SUV is charged up to the teeth, able to drive farther than any Tesla TSLA. A unit of the higher-spec grade will run you about $95,000 and flexes 450 miles (roughly 720 kilometers) on a single charge, compared to Tesla’s max range of about 350 miles (560 kilometers). As a bonus, it boasts ultrafast charging times.

“We have achieved this with an impressively small battery pack compared to competitors. This is critical to preserving earth’s precious resources,” CEO Peter Rawlinson said in a statement on Monday.

Now let’s talk share price. The soft launch of the Lucid Gravity, followed by the record Q4 delivery figure fueled a wave of buying. In December alone, Lucid shares added more than 40% to their valuation, going from $2 to around $3.

But that’s 70% lower than the stock’s price tag on the first day it floated shares back in 2021 via a SPAC reverse merger. In all fairness, it’s excruciatingly difficult to navigate the challenging EV market, not to mention the vast universe of auto makers. And Rawlinson already knows it — he is the former Tesla Model S chief engineer.

Investors are ramping up hopes that the commercial release of the Lucid Gravity will help lift up the languishing share price. The company, however, is expected to continue burning cash (i.e. no profits any time soon) for the sake of expanding its production and maintaining sales growth. For the third quarter of last year, the net loss was $992.5 million, up from $630.9 million in the year-ago quarter.

Now everything hinges on the new SUV and its appeal to customers. The next step is to get it inside more than 50 showrooms for test drives, marketing and sales.

“Once we have produced those vehicles, we’ll start delivering to a broader group of customers. This is just the beginning,” Rawlinson wrote in a post on LinkedIn last week, promising a “remarkable 2025.”

So should you buy the shares? Here’s what Lucid got going for it.

🚀 The bullish case:

• Affordable share price — retail traders can scoop up in boatloads
  
• Tiny market cap of $10 billion — lots of room for potential growth
  
• Backed by the Saudi monarchy — lots of cash to support the biz
  
• Advanced EV battery technology — company can cut edge and innovate
  
• Advanced, luxury EV niche — premium, high-performance models
  
• Range above anything the EV market can offer — Tesla is in the dust
  
• Scalable product line — Lucid plans to roll out sub-$50,000 models in 2026
  

💥 The bearish case:

• High capital expenditures — low-hanging fruit here, Lucid spends a lot
  
• Hasn’t been around for very long — making cars since 2016
  
• Lacks the Lindy effect — uncertain likelihood of continued cash flow
  
• Limited customer base — it’s a high-end product in a tough market
  
• Pricing wars — competitors with more affordable EVs could limit Lucid’s market share
  
• Concentration risk — Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) owns roughly 60% of Lucid and may decide to stop or reduce its cash injections
• Prone to speculation — tiny market cap makes the stock vulnerable to swings (is that really bad, though?)
  

So is Lucid a gem for the diamond-handed, a rocket to the moon or a bag-holding investment? What’s your take? Share your thoughts below!