What happened
Shares of Churchill Capital IV (CCIV) have more than doubled since the first week in January when speculation began circling that the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) might bring luxury electric-vehicle maker Lucid Motors public.
In premarket trading Monday morning, Churchill Capital stock jumped almost 50% before settling back down. As of 9:30 a.m. EST, shares were trading 21% above Friday's closing price.
So what
The jump comes after The Financial Times reported overnight that Lucid is in talks with Saudi Arabia's sovereign wealth fund to build a new EV factory in the kingdom. The Saudi fund is already a major holder in Lucid after it invested more than $1 billion in 2018.
Lucid Air luxury electric sedan. Image source: Lucid Motors.
A condition of the Saudi fund's investment was for the automotive company to construct a factory in Saudi Arabia, according to Bloomberg news.
Now what
The Lucid Air luxury sedan will be available with over 1,000 horsepower and a battery range of 517 miles. The vehicle will directly compete with Tesla. Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson worked as chief engineer on the Tesla Model S sedan.
The first vehicles from Lucid are expected to be available this spring from its Arizona manufacturing facility. The initial Air sedan model will be the $161,500 Air Dream Edition. Future models will include the base level Air Pure listed at $69,900. Lucid also has plans for a future SUV model, though no details have been released.
Investors should be very aware that there is still no set deal for Churchill Capital to merge with Lucid. That rumor may or may not be true, and bidding up shares in the SPAC now remains speculative.
