What happened
Shares of electric vehicle (EV) manufacturer Lucid Group (LCID 3.44%) bounced today after seeing double-digit losses last week. After dropping more than 13% over the past five days, Lucid jumped as much as 4.5% Monday morning. The stock gave back some of those gains but still remained up about 0.4% as of 2:03 p.m. ET.
So what
Lucid picked up new coverage from analysts at global institutional banker Exane BNP Paribas today, giving the EV start-up the equivalent of a buy rating, as shared by StreetInsider.com. That helped bolster the stock after its drop last week as BNP touted Lucid's in-house technologies as well as its Saudi Arabian connections.
Image source: Lucid Group.
Now what
Lucid has previously announced that it plans to build its first facility outside the U.S. in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia. The Saudi sovereign wealth fund invested more than $1 billion in Lucid in 2018, helping to build Lucid's existing plant in Arizona. The fund is a large shareholder in Lucid, with an approximately 62% stake in the company.
Lucid plans to build a plant in that country that first will be used to assemble vehicle "kits" that will be pre-manufactured at the company's Arizona plant. It intends to eventually produce as many as 150,000 complete vehicles per year at the new facility.
Lucid is a technological leader among EV makers, with a battery offering that provides 520 miles of range on a single charge. Lucid also plans to utilize its battery technology for energy storage systems for home, commercial, and utility-scale energy storage markets. BNP Paribas thinks Lucid stock is a buy after highlighting those aspects of the company. That's helped the stock move up today.
