You can't blame a Lucid Group (LCID 0.96%) investor for sighing loudly during the fourth-quarter conference call. After years of mostly disappointing investors with production hiccups, earnings misses, delays, and other developments, Lucid finally had real positive momentum in 2024.
So, of course, Lucid would cap off the year with a strong fourth-quarter result, only to abruptly announce that CEO Peter Rawlinson is stepping down. Let's take a look at the situation and whether it should change a Lucid investing thesis.
What's going on?
Lucid announced recently that former CEO Peter Rawlinson would step down and that the company's chief operating officer, Marc Winterhoff, would take over as interim CEO. Rawlinson is still involved to some degree and will serve as a "strategic technical advisor to the chairman of the board," according to Lucid.
"It was Peter's decision after 12 years of, let's say, daily grind or daily activities and bringing the company where it is today ... that it is time to step aside and pass the baton," said Winterhoff, according to CNBC.com.
It's certainly an unexpected development from one of the company's largest shareholders and one who drove taking Lucid public through a reverse merger with a special purpose acquisition company in 2021.
Big deal or no deal?
It's easy as an investor to assume the worst, or to think that Rawlinson's stepping down signals some behind-the-scenes dumpster fire -- but let's not panic. There are many reasons that could be driving his departure, and not all of them are doom and gloom.
That said, it's fair to criticize the timing considering 2025 is poised to be a big year for Lucid. The company has posted four consecutive record quarters for deliveries and totaled 10,241 for the year -- a 70% increase from the prior year. It's taking that momentum into 2025 when the company plans to deliver 20,000 vehicles, almost double 2024's total.
One reason for the big jump in deliveries is obviously the company's second vehicle, the Gravity EV SUV. Deliveries of the Gravity hit the road early in 2025 and Lucid plans to gradually ramp up production throughout 2025, consistently pushing total deliveries higher. It's also a big deal because the company noted that 75% of Gravity orders are new to the brand, suggesting it's not just former Air vehicle owners trading over to the new SUV.
Beyond the Gravity, Lucid is also developing a new mid-sized platform used to underpin three vehicles. One of those three has already been teased and is anticipated to take the name Earth and start with a price tag around $48,000. Production isn't anticipated to arrive until late 2026, but the three upcoming vehicles will be critical to the company's effort to take on Tesla's dominant market share.
Time to sell?
Rawlinson's decision to step down, with what we know to this point, isn't a reason to sell Lucid stock. That would be a severe knee-jerk reaction, and those generally aren't money-making moves. For Lucid investors, it's much more important to focus on the company's big 2025 and future midsize platform because those vehicles could change the narrative around Lucid's future growth entirely.
