Capital Increase at Lucid Motors: A Turbulent Change of Course

The electric vehicle manufacturer Lucid Motors has successfully completed a previously announced capital increase, generating new capital through the sale of shares. The California-based company plans to place up to 262,446,931 shares, expected to raise approximately 1.67 billion USD. These funds are intended for general corporate purposes as well as investments in capital and operating resources. Additionally, the main shareholder, the Ayar Third Investment Company—a subsidiary of the Public Investment Fund—will acquire another 374,717,927 shares in a private placement. This enables Ayar to maintain its 58.8% stake without dilution. Just two months ago, Ayar supported Lucid with a capital injection of about 1.5 billion USD. These renewed financing measures led to a 16% drop in Lucid's stock during midday trading. In addition to these developments, Lucid has presented preliminary financial results for the third quarter, showing an expected operating loss between 765 million and 790 million USD—similar to the loss in the second quarter. Quarterly revenues are estimated at 199 to 200 million USD, thus exceeding Bloomberg's forecast of 196.4 million USD. The vehicle manufacturer also reports a liquidity reserve of approximately 1.9 billion USD and total financing availability of 4 billion USD before the capital measure. The production of the upcoming electric SUV Gravity, set to be launched later this year, is projected to significantly boost sales figures. According to CEO Peter Rawlinson, the market for Gravity could be six times the size of the market for the Lucid Air model. The upcoming challenge for Lucid will be to produce the Gravity efficiently and cost-effectively. With a starting price of around 80,000 USD in the USA, the model is positioned right at the threshold for the federal electric vehicle tax credit.