Lucid Group (LCID 5.25%) started working on electric vehicle (EV) battery systems in 2008, and had built a test EV by 2014. However, it's only now that Lucid has become the talk of the town -- Lucid stock has doubled in value in just two months' time, now commanding a market capitalization of nearly $85 billion as of this writing.
While Lucid's first electric car has already stunned many, a coveted industry award and strong reservation numbers are just some of the things that have triggered such massive interest in Lucid shares in recent weeks. Importantly, many believe this could just be the beginning of an unstoppable rally for the stock given the EV maker's growth plans. Here's all you need to know.
Why Lucid stock is on fire
Lucid shares debuted in the U.S. in late July, but it started to gain attention only in mid-September after the market got the first real glimpse of the kind of cars Lucid is building -- the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) gave its longest-range rating yet for an EV to the Lucid Air Dream Edition, at 520 miles. Beating Tesla's (TSLA 1.98%) Model S by more than 100 miles, Lucid soon emerged as the first real potential threat to Tesla in the eyes of EV enthusiasts.
Image source: Lucid Group.
The optimism shot to an all-new high when Lucid Air won the 2022 MotorTrend Car of the Year award in mid-November. Lucid's Dream Edition, which was first delivered on Oct. 30, is already receiving rave reviews from EV experts. MotorTrend, on its part, sees a "continuous improvement of electric batteries, motors, and charging" as the way forward to EVs, which is also why it chose Lucid Air as the winner.
That's not hard to understand -- Lucid builds its battery systems and powertrains in-house, and is striving to build efficient cars on smaller battery packs. In fact, Lucid supplies battery packs for the Formula E race series cars, so its EV battery technology certainly merits attention.
More notably, Lucid's CEO Peter Rawlinson made some stunning revelations during Lucid's third-quarter earnings call, and one of them was his ultimate mission for Lucid Group -- to use its technology as a commercial enabler, bring down costs, and build electric cars for the masses.
To have an affordable electric car that runs on the same battery technology that also powers Formula E race cars is an idea too compelling to ignore.
Of course, a mass-car is still years away and Lucid's first car, ironically, is expensive with a price tag of $169,000 per unit. Yet, investors were quick to gauge the potential demand for Lucid's yet-to-launch models from just one number the company gave out in its Q3 earnings release.
The most important Lucid number you must know
On Nov. 15, Lucid Group released its first-ever detailed quarterly report since going public. The company didn't have any revenue numbers to share as it only started delivering its first cars on Oct. 30, but it did reveal that its reservations of 13,000 cars as of the end of September were worth $1.3 billion in revenue.
That means an average price of $100,000 per unit, which sits roughly at the mid-point of the prices for all four of Lucid's models, three of which will launch in 2022. Here are their price points to give you a better idea:
- Lucid Air Dream Edition: $169,000 per unit
- Lucid Air Grand Touring: $139,000 per unit
- Lucid Air Touring: $95,000 per unit
- Lucid Air Pure: $77,400 per unit
It's therefore fair to assume that Lucid is securing reservations across four of its models. Lucid's order book also continues to grow: It reported more than 17,000 reservations in total as of Nov. 15.
Not surprisingly, Lucid is expanding its production capacity to 20,000 Lucid Airs in 2022 and is making provisions to build as many as 500,000 vehicles by 2030.
Those are big numbers, and so is the award and Rawlinson's mission for Lucid. It's small wonder, then, that everyone's talking about Lucid stock right now.
Why Lucid stock may not stop just yet
Lucid still has a long way to go, but 2022 could prove whether the company can make it or break it. To start, Lucid's first revenue numbers should come in, and it has three launches lined up next year. Then there are its plans outside the U.S., including starting deliveries in Canada. 2022 should also reveal whether Lucid can launch its much-awaited luxury SUV, Gravity, in 2023 as planned, as well as Rawlinson's definite plans to expand Lucid's manufacturing base outside the U.S.
That's a lot to look forward to, and if Lucid can deliver on even some of its plans, the stock could skyrocket. That's how growth stocks behave, and Lucid already appears to be one of those growth stocks poised to be multibaggers in the coming years.
