Electric vehicle manufacturers Rivian and Lucid’s fourth-quarter earnings reports revealed stagnant production numbers, disappointing results and sending their stock prices plummeting.
CNBC report Shares of electric vehicle makers Rivian and Lucid fell sharply on Thursday following disappointing fourth-quarter results released after the market closed on Wednesday, the companies said. Rivian stock fell about 25% and Lucid stock fell nearly 17%.
Both companies cited stagnant production volumes and “existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties” as factors affecting performance. Rivian predicts that vehicle production in 2024 will be 57,000 units. This is approximately the same as the production volume of 57,232 vehicles in 2023. Meanwhile, Lucid predicts that vehicle production this year will be 9,000 units, an increase of just 7% compared to 2022 levels.
On February 25, 2021, the luxury electric vehicle “Lucid Air Grand Touring” was exhibited at Lucid Motors Inc.’s studio and service center in Beverly Hills, California. (Photo by PATRICK T. FALLON/AFP via Getty Images)
Rivian R1S on the snow (Rivian)
In Rivian’s earnings call, CEO RJ Scaringe said: “Our business is not immune to existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties, most notably the impact of historically high interest rates, which are negatively impacting demand.” Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson echoed this sentiment, noting that rising interest rates are having an impact on the company.
Stagnant production numbers for Rivian have put the company and its management team in a bind. In 2023, Scaringe laughingly claimed that buying a gas car in today’s market is like “building a horse stable in 1910.”
Rivian reported higher-than-expected quarterly revenue of $1.32 billion. However, investors were quick to react as the loss per share was much lower than expected at $1.36. Lucid’s revenue came in at his $157.2 million, which was lower than expected. Net loss per share was $0.30, in line with expectations.
The electric vehicle market remains small compared to conventional vehicles. EVs accounted for just 6.9% of total U.S. vehicle sales last year. Tesla holds an overwhelming position, controlling more than 50% of the EV market. Rivian and Lucid have a piece of the pie, and combined he’s less than 5%.
Rivian stock is down 40% over the past year, and Lucid is down 70%, making things tough for investors. Both stocks have plummeted since going public in late 2021, losing about 80% in value. Thursday’s plunge in earnings only adds to the pain.
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Lucas Nolan is a reporter for Breitbart News covering free speech and online censorship issues.
