Sales are growing and losses are shrinking, but that wasn’t enough to stop the luxury electric vehicle manufacturer’s shares Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) of the yawning Wednesday.

The company reported third-quarter results late Tuesday, with shares plummeting more than 18% following news of dwindling reservations or pre-orders for the Lucid Air electric sedan.

Lucid was already falling lower before release. The stock is down 27.88% in the past three months and 64.52% so far.

The company specializes in luxury EVs. It is vertically integrated, meaning it designs, designs and manufactures vehicles, battery systems and powertrains.

It went public in 2021 through a SPAC merger, although the company was founded in 2007 to produce battery technologies.

California-based Lucid said it received reservations for approximately sedans in the quarter, up from 37,000 earlier. The company said it was on track to deliver between 6,000 and 7,000 for the full year.

Lucid reported a loss of $0.32 per share, ahead of the consensus estimate of $0.31 per share. That was still an improvement from a loss of $0.43 a share in the same quarter a year ago, but Wall Street was looking for more.

Analyst views are missing

Revenue came in at $195.5 million, a huge year-over-year improvement, but also fell short of analyst expectations.

Those misses, combined with a slower pace of pre-orders, resulted in Wednesday’s sell-off.

Other highlights from the report include:

• Record quarterly production of 2,282 vehicles, more than three times the previous quarter
• Third quarter revenue from customer deliveries of 1,398 vehicles in the quarter
• More than 34,000 reservations, representing a potential revenue of more than $3.2 billion
• Plans announced to open Project Gravity SUV reservations in early 2023

Capital expenditures were $290,064 in the quarter, more than triple from $92,780 in the same quarter last year. Investors may be seeing results in the company’s increased manufacturing recently.

For the full year, analysts expect Lucid to post a loss of $1.05 per share, down from its loss of $3.48 per share in 2021.

The stock’s chart shows a decline that started in November last year, punctuated by failed rally attempts in July and August and again in October. In fact, Lucid posted a gain of 2.29% in October, but the stock quickly rolled over.

It’s not the only EV startup suffering. Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ: RIVN)which reported a gain after the bell on Wednesday, is down 16.38% in the past three months and 69.28% so far.

Wall Street had expected the electric truck maker to post a loss of $1.82 a share on $550 million in sales. The company reported earnings per share of $1.57 on revenue of $536.

Supply chain still a problem

The company cited supply chain constraints as a factor limiting production in the quarter.

In its earnings release, the company said: “Based on our latest insight into the supply chain environment, we are confirming our 2022 production guidance of a total of 25,000 units produced. We are also reconfirming the annual forecast provided during our earnings call for the second quarter of $(5,450) million in Adjusted EBITDA.”

Rivian said it lowered its capital spending guidelines to $1.75 billion, shifting some of that to next year.

The company expects its R2 platform, with production in Georgia, to be launched in 2026.

Rivian is also a new listed company, which debuted just a year ago, just as the broader markets were weakening and moving into a downtrend. That was, of course, unfortunate timing. The stock has had small tradable rallies when it was possible to make some quick gains, but it hasn’t offered many opportunities for investors yet.
Shares rose in after-hours trading on Wednesday.