Lucid Group (LCID -11.50%) recently launched its new fully electric SUV, and now has told investors it plans to produce more than twice as many electric vehicles (EVs) in 2025 as it did in 2024. It also beat expectations on both the top and bottom lines in the fourth-quarter report it delivered after the close of trading Tuesday.
Yet despite all that seemingly good news, the stock was tanking Wednesday, down by 11.9% as of 12:55 p.m. ET.
The luxury EV maker reported a fourth-quarter loss of $0.22 per share on sales of $234.5 million. Wall Street was looking for revenue of just $214 million and a $0.25 per share loss. But word that CEO Peter Rawlinson is stepping down may have rattled investors.
Rawlinson was formerly a vice president of engineering at Tesla, where he played a large role in the design and launch of the Model S. While Lucid is still a low-volume automaker, it has become a technological leader under Rawlinson. The Lucid Air Grand Touring sedan has the longest battery range of any EV -- 512 miles.
The company has entered a new phase of growth with the launch of its Gravity SUV. But as Rawlinson stated: "Now that we have successfully launched the Lucid Gravity, I have decided it is finally the right time for me to step aside from my roles at Lucid."
Chief Operating Officer Marc Winterhoff was named interim CEO as the board searches for a permanent replacement for Rawlinson, who will stay connected to the company in the role of strategic technical advisor to the chairman of the board of directors.
Investors seem to be focused on the leadership change rather than the company's forecast that it will produce about 20,000 EVs in 2025 -- more than twice as many as it manufactured last year. Lucid also failed to offer specific numerical guidance about Gravity orders during its conference call. That may be contributing to investors' concerns, too.
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