Electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors (LCID) reported a rise in third-quarter revenue and a narrower-than-expected loss as the company prepares for the all-important launch of its Gravity electric SUV.
For the quarter, Lucid reported revenue of $200 million, beating estimates of $196.3 million compiled by Bloomberg and significantly higher than the $137.8 million reported a year ago. Lucid reported an adjusted loss of $0.28 per share, less than the expected loss of $0.31, with adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization) at a loss of $613.1 million, better than the expected loss of $634.4 million.
Lucid previously reported that it produced 1,805 cars in Q3, with deliveries at 2,781. The company said today that it is on track to reach its annual production of 9,000 cars.
“Our momentum continues with our third consecutive quarter of record shipments,” Peter Rawlinson, Lucid’s chief executive officer and chief technology officer, said in a statement. “Furthermore, today we are pleased to open the order book for the highly anticipated Lucid Gravity SUV, a landmark product that remains on track to enter production this year.”
The company also said it ended the quarter with $5.16 billion in cash, an important line as the company begins production of Gravity. That doesn’t include the roughly $1.75 billion raised from a stock sale earlier last month.
“We continue to see improvements in gross margin performance as our cost reduction efforts gain momentum,” said Gagan Dhingra, Lucid’s interim CFO, in a statement. “With our recent capital raise, we are pleased to once again have the continued support of both the Public Investment Fund and other institutional investors.”
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF), through its subsidiary Ayar Third Investment Company, is Lucid’s largest investor. Ayar bought additional shares during the capital increase to maintain its 58.8% stake.
Lucid hopes that the upcoming Gravity SUV, which is expected to go into production later this year, will accelerate sales by a significant margin.
“We believe the total addressable market for Gravity is six times that of Lucid Air,” Rawlinson said in an interview with Yahoo Finance in August. Rawlinson said the company will eventually have the capacity at its Arizona plant to produce 90,000 Gravity SUVs a year.
The big question will be whether Lucid can build the Gravity SUV efficiently and come out cheaper. The Gravity is expected to start around $80,000 in the US, right at the threshold for eligibility for the federal EV tax credit.