$LCID (-2,44%)

https://www.handelsblatt.com/unternehmen/industrie/uber-und-lucid-schmieden-robotaxi-allianz-aktie-reagiert-deutlich/100142374.html

Uber and Lucid Motors form robotaxi alliance

Key points:

• Cooperation: Uber wants to cooperate with the e-car manufacturer Lucid Motors and the autonomous driving technology company Nuro.ai to build a robotaxi fleet.
• Goal: 20,000 vehicles vehicles are to be produced over the next six years, with operations starting end of 2026 in the USAwith subsequent global expansion.
• Vehicle basis: The Robotaxi is based on the Lucid Gravity SUVwith a range of over 700 km range and modern sensor technology (lidar, radar, cameras).
• Technology: Nuro supplies the AI software ("Nuro Driver") for autonomous driving at level 4 (without driver).
• Investments: Uber invests 300 million dollars in Lucid and additionally several hundred million in Nuro.

Background to the companies

• Nuro: Previously specialized in autonomous delivery vehicles, founded by former Waymo engineers.
• Lucid: E-car startup with production in Arizona and financed by the Saudi sovereign wealth fund. Also produces in a plant in Saudi Arabia (capacity: 150,000 vehicles/year).
• Problems at Lucid: Missed sales targets (only 3300 vehicles sold in Q2), share price since the beginning of the year -41 %change of CEO, cash reserves shrunk significantly.

Market outlook

• The cooperation is seen as a strategic liberation for Lucid.
• The move positions Uber, Lucid and Nuro as competitors to Waymo and Tesla in the robotaxi sector.
• The Lucid share reacted positively to the news.

Lucid Group on course for growth

Lucid Group $LCID (-2,44%) has established itself as a true high-flyer over the last six quarters, achieving impressive record deliveries. While the electric vehicle industry in the US is generally struggling with challenges, Lucid has developed a smart strategy to take off in the coming year. Analysts are optimistic and predict that the company's sales figures could almost double next year. A key factor in this growth is the latest model, the Gravity SUV, which is based on a mid-size platform. These SUV models could significantly expand the market, as the market size of the Gravity SUV is expected to be six times larger than that of the Lucid Air. In the first quarter of this year, Lucid already delivered 3,109 vehicles, an impressive 58% year-on-year increase. Despite a loss of almost 400 million euros in the fourth quarter and the resignation of CEO Peter Rawlinson, the future of Lucid remains bright.

Tesla launches robotaxi service in Texas

In the USA, Tesla $TSLA (-0,32%) caused a stir on Monday and emerged as the biggest winner in the S&P 500 after the company launched a robotaxi test in Texas. Shares in the electric vehicle manufacturer shot up by 8.2%, the best performance of the day in the S&P 500. CEO Elon Musk has announced that Tesla is launching around 10 to 20 autonomous driving Model Y vehicles in Austin, with ambitious plans for rapid expansion by the end of next year. These robotaxi and self-driving software initiatives could not only revolutionize the driving experience, but also help Tesla's market capitalization double by the end of 2026. Meanwhile, Supermicro $SMCI saw a 9.8% drop after the company announced that it will issue €2 billion in convertible bonds to fund general corporate purposes.

Sources:

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/growth-poised-explode-lucid-stock-124500156.html

https://finance.yahoo.com/news/p-500-gains-losses-today-205340522.html

The analyst conference of Lucid Group ($LCID (-2,44%) ) for the fourth quarter of 2024 provided exciting insights into the company's progress, future direction and strategy for scaling production.

Right at the beginning of the conference Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff took the floor and thanked his predecessor Peter Rawlinson for his decisive role in the development of Lucid. Under his leadership, the market entry of the Lucid Airthe the opening of the first production facility in Saudi Arabia and the and the conclusion of a major technology agreement with an OEM.

The new CFO Taoufiq Boussaid emphasized in his first statement that Lucid is not just another EV company, but is positioning itself as a technology-driven innovator with industry-leading efficiency and a strong luxury brand. brand.

Lucid produced 9,029 vehicles in 2024 and delivered 10,241. For 2025, the production will be doubled to around 20,000 vehicles doubled, although the company expects capacity bottlenecks in the first quarters. quarters. Despite continuing negative gross margins, there was significant improvement from -225% in 2023 to -114% in 2024. Investments (CapEx) for 2025 are estimated at around 1.4 billion US dollars estimated. The liquidity situation remains solid: Lucid ends the year with 5.08 billion US dollars in cash and cash equivalentswhich, together with other securities, represents total liquidity of 6.13 billion US dollars . This extends into the second half of 2026.

Winterhoff defined four key strategic priorities: Increasing customer deliveries, technological development, market launch of three mid-range cars by the end of 2026 and the expansion of the technology licensing business.

The subsequent Q&A session provided deeper insights into the challenges and opportunities for Lucid. John Murphy (Bank of America Securities) inquired about the departure of Peter Rawlinson. Winterhoff explained that Rawlinson, after twelve years at the helm, Rawlinson had decided to pass on the baton as he had built a strong team and achieved important milestones - including the launch of the Lucid Air and the development of Gravity. the market launch of Lucid Air and the development of Gravity.

Another key issue was the demand for the Gravity SUV. Winterhoff was positively surprised that that demand is already strong, although hardly any marketing has been done so far. When asked whether Lucid can actually sell the 20,000 planned units or whether this figure is limited by production capacityhe explained that there will be capacity bottlenecks in the first quarters. there will be capacity bottleneckswhich should improve as production is scaled up.

Another question related to the assessment of the market potential of Gravity. While Lucid had previously emphasized that this market is six times larger than that of sedans the limousine market, Winterhoff clarified that the current limitation was due to production capacity and not demand.

Stephen Gengaro (Stifel) focused on the gross margins and wanted to know how the gravity mix on margins in 2025. will have. CFO Gagan Dhingra emphasized that Lucid expects a expects a significant improvement in gross marginssimilar to 2024 compared to 2023.

Christopher Pierce (Needham & Company) asked another interesting question: Why is Lucid moving aggressively into marketing now when production is still limited? Winterhoff explained that this is aimed at anchoring the Lucid brand to a broader target audience, especially in light of the upcoming mid-size car.

Adam Jonas (Morgan Stanley) wanted to know more about Lucid's strategy in the field of artificial intelligence (AI) and autonomous driving and autonomous driving. Winterhoff made it clear that Lucid further develop the existing driving functionality in the short term and and intends to introduce hands-free driving this year.

Lucid is in a decisive phase of scaling. The company is continuing its growth course by doubling production, gradually improving gross margins and expanding into new segments. The development of the Gravity SUV, which plays in a much larger market segment and is already generating a great deal of interest, remains particularly exciting. Lucid sees itself not only as an electric car manufacturer, but also as a technology leader in the premium segment - a strategy that could extend beyond car production in the long term.

However, the company must continue to prove that it can ramp up production capacity without exploding costs. With 6.13 billion US dollars in liquidity until 2026, Lucid is well financed, but it will be clear by then at the latest whether the business model will be sustainably profitable.

The Lucid share $LCID (-2,44%) continues to tumble, despite positive news! On Tuesday after the close of trading, the Tesla rival published its results for the fourth quarter of 2024. Although there was a loss of USD 0.22 per share, this was better than analysts' estimates of USD -0.25. In the previous year, the loss was USD -0.29 per share.

Sales increased to USD 234.473 million, a significant improvement on the USD 157.2 million in the same period last year. However, analysts had expected USD 214.1 million.

A loss of USD 1.25 per share was reported for the full financial year 2024, while experts had expected a loss of USD 1.178. Total revenue amounted to USD 807.832 million, exceeding expectations of USD 788.4 million. In the previous year, this figure was only USD 595.3 million.

The company has also announced a change in management: CEO Peter Rawlinson is stepping down to take on a strategic role. Marc Winterhoff, previously COO, will become the new interim CEO. It remains to be seen whether these changes can stabilize the Lucid share price. 📈

Earnings next week

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Lucid Auto

Has just been presented here.

Price 6 figures with equipment and quality well, red rust will soon send its regards.

Market in Germany/Europe difficult because the price/quality category of the customers is not fulfilled.

My summary:

Good inside, bad outside

Door handle wobbly, loading flap playful, trunk lid doesn't work at all.

Hey, what do you think of my portfolio?

Please ignore $SNAP (-0,25%) and the $SRECHA this was a purchase that I bought over a year ago as a test/fun and I'm just too stingy to sell at the moment 😂

$MSFT (-0,09%) was a buy at the beginning i bought right at the peak and learned a lesson from that again. I will sell it as soon as possible at a profit and invest that money in the $VWRL (-0,23%) invest

$ARYN and $LCID (-2,44%) are purchases that I thought could achieve good growth if I hold them for +/- 10 years.

Otherwise I save the $VWRL (-0,23%) monthly and the $XNAS (-0,23%) monthly

From October the $CHDVD will be added. As I simply want to be well diversified in the Swiss equity market 😊

What are the most questionable stock recommendations you have heard from friends/acquaintances/relatives/colleagues?

For me it's the beginning of 2023 $LCID (-2,44%) Lucid Group from an ex-colleague who was kicked out during his probationary period