Lucid Group (LCID) Stock: Saudi Plant Partnership Drives 18% Rally

TLDR

• Lucid Group stock jumped 17.9% on Wednesday, reaching as high as $11.65 with trading volume 167% above average
• The company announced a partnership with Rockwell Automation to power its Saudi Arabia manufacturing facility with enterprise software solutions
• The King Abdullah Economic City plant will be Saudi Arabia’s first vehicle manufacturing site and will produce Lucid’s future midsize vehicles
• Analysts maintain a “Reduce” consensus rating with a $18.92 price target, with recent downgrades from Morgan Stanley and Royal Bank of Canada
• Lucid reported a $2.65 loss per share in Q3, missing estimates, with revenue of $336.6M up 68% year-over-year

Lucid Group shares climbed sharply on Wednesday after announcing a manufacturing partnership that could reshape its production capabilities. The stock closed at $11.47, up 17.9% from the previous day’s close of $9.73.

Lucid Group, Inc., LCID

Trading volume reached 23.16 million shares during the session. This marked a 167% increase over the typical daily average of 8.69 million shares.

The rally came on the heels of Lucid’s announcement that Rockwell Automation would power its Saudi Arabian manufacturing facility. The luxury EV maker will deploy Rockwell’s FactoryTalk manufacturing execution system software across all major production areas at the King Abdullah Economic City plant.

This facility represents Saudi Arabia’s first vehicle manufacturing site. The plant will focus on producing Lucid’s future midsize vehicles as the company expands beyond its Arizona factory.

The software will provide real-time visibility, traceability, and control across operations. Rockwell will also deliver training programs to develop local Saudi talent, supporting Saudi Arabia’s Vision 2030 economic diversification goals.

Analyst Downgrades Continue Despite Stock Pop

The stock’s recent performance stands in contrast to Wall Street’s sentiment. Analysts currently maintain a “Reduce” consensus rating with an average price target of $18.92.

Morgan Stanley downgraded Lucid from “buy” to “underweight” on December 8th. The firm slashed its price target from $30 to $10.

Royal Bank of Canada also cut its price target from $20 to $14 on January 14th. Stifel Nicolaus reduced its target from $21 to $17 in November.

Two analysts rate the stock as a buy. Five have issued hold ratings, while four assign sell ratings.

The company carries a market cap of $3.72 billion with a beta of 0.89. Its 50-day moving average sits at $12.11, while the 200-day moving average is $18.38.

Lucid maintains a quick ratio of 1.34 and a current ratio of 1.81. The debt-to-equity ratio stands at 1.19.

Recent Financial Performance

Lucid reported third-quarter earnings on November 5th. The company posted a loss of $2.65 per share, missing analyst estimates of $2.32 by $0.33.

Revenue came in at $336.58 million, below expectations of $378.44 million. However, this represented a 68.3% increase compared to the same quarter last year when the company posted a $2.76 loss per share.

The business posted a negative net margin of 224.99% and a negative return on equity of 85.13%. Analysts forecast Lucid will post a $1.25 loss per share for the current year.

Institutional investors own 75.17% of the company’s stock. Goldman Sachs Group increased its holdings by 112% in the first quarter, now holding 5.44 million shares worth $13.17 million.

AQR Capital Management raised its stake by 89.9% to 537,801 shares valued at $1.23 million. Royal Bank of Canada lifted its position by 9.5% to 110,716 shares worth $267,000.

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