Earlier this week Tesla reported a 14% decline in second-quarter electric vehicle (EV) deliveries versus last year. Some of that drop is due to increasing competition from traditional automakers and smaller EV makers alike. One of the latter is Lucid Group (LCID -2.34%). Lucid serves the high-end market, and just reported second-quarter sales that jumped 38% year over year.
Of course, the record 3,309 EVs Lucid sent to customers pales in comparison to the more than 384,000 deliveries Tesla reported. Investors sent Lucid shares higher nonetheless. The stock jumped as much as nearly 9% on the news Thursday morning. At noon ET the stock was still higher by 5.9%.
Lucid's new Gravity SUV plugged into Tesla Supercharger. Image source: Lucid Group.
Will Lucid be the next Tesla?
For the first half of 2025, Lucid has delivered more than 6,400 vehicles. That compares to just over 10,200 for the full year 2024. That increase came as Lucid began shipping its latest EV model. The luxury Gravity SUV is the first new design after its Air sedans and is helping to expand Lucid's market.
As mentioned, though, Lucid's volume is still just a drop in the bucket compared to sector leader Tesla. Buying the stock now would require a belief that it will successfully expand beyond the Air and Gravity models. The company has said it plans to offer lower-priced EVs in the future.
That will need to come to fruition for the stock to move meaningfully higher. Lucid has some time to make that happen, though. The company ended the first quarter with almost $6 billion in total liquidity. It also has support from the Saudi Arabian Public Investment Fund (PIF), its largest shareholder.
But the company is still bleeding cash. Even though it has improved as sales volume has picked up, Lucid's net loss from operations in the first quarter was over $366 million. Investors will know more when the company reports second-quarter full financial results on Tuesday, Aug. 5.
