Electric vehicle start-up Lucid Group (LCID 0.41%) failed to impress in its most recent quarter and gave disappointing guidance about the year ahead. Investors are headed for the exit ramp, sending Lucid shares down 20% as of 10:45 a.m. ET.

Slower-than-expected growth up ahead

Lucid is one of a number of young electric vehicle companies trying to replicate the success of Tesla. The company's first car, the Air luxury sedan, is in production in Arizona and Saudi Arabia.

The company lost $0.29 per share in the fourth quarter, a penny better than what Wall Street had expected, but revenue of $157.2 million was well below the $180 million consensus. Lucid delivered 1,734 vehicles in the fourth quarter and 6,001 in all of 2023, with the full-year number up 37% from 2022.

"Lucid is investing for the long term in technology, manufacturing and partnerships to further solidify our place in the market as the premier luxury EV brand in the world," CEO Peter Rawlinson said in a statement. "As we start 2024, I'm very excited about the year ahead and beyond. We are entering the next transformational phase of the Lucid vehicle lineup and are laser-focused on growth."

But that growth will not materialize as fast as investors had hoped. The company expects to produce 9,000 vehicles in 2024, significantly below the 14,000-vehicle Wall Street forecast. Lucid produced 8,428 vehicles in 2023.

Is Lucid a buy after its post-earnings drop?

The 2024 production number is disappointing, but Lucid can't be blamed for adjusting its plans based on current market conditions. Tesla and other EV manufacturers, including legacy automakers, have talked of cooling demand for electric vehicles in the current climate.

The bull case from here is that the demand cool-off is temporary, caused as much by higher interest rates and economic uncertainty as by a change in consumer preferences. Lucid has an attractive, well-received product in the Air, and a diversified manufacturing footprint, and should be able to capture share as demand returns.

The company ended the quarter with $4.78 billion in total liquidity, giving it a substantial advantage over some of its EV start-up rivals that allows Lucid to be somewhat patient.

There is a lot of uncertainty out there around electric vehicles right now, but for patient investors who believe EVs are the future, it might be time to take Lucid shares for a test drive.