Shares of EV start-up Lucid rise after executives confirm new reservations, 2022 vehicle production

Shares of Lucid Group jumped by more than 5% during afterhours trading after the electric vehicle start-up announced a notable increase in vehicle reservations and confirmed its production target for next year.

The company on Monday said it has more than 17,000 reservations for its Air sedan, up from 13,000 through the third quarter. The reservations through September represented an order book of $1.3 billion, the company said.

Lucid also confirmed its 20,000 vehicle production target for next year, but said hurdles remain for achieving those plans.

“We remain confident in our ability to achieve 20,000 units in 2022,” Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson saind in a release. “This target is not without risk given ongoing challenges facing the automotive industry, with global disruptions to supply chains and logistics. We are taking steps to mitigate these challenges, however, and look forward to the launch of the Grand Touring, Touring, and Pure versions of Lucid Air through 2022.”

Lucid did not immediately provide financial results for the third-quarter other than saying it bolstered its balance sheet to $4.8 billon in cash to end the quarter.

Shares closed at $44.88 per share, up 2.2%. The stock price remains below its 52-week high of nearly $65 a share in February when it was reported that Lucid was nearing a deal with blank-check company Churchill Capital IV Corp. to go public.

Shares of Lucid are up by more than 80% since the company went public through a reverse merger with Churchill in July. The largest daily increase of 31% occurred late last month when the company confirmed customer deliveries of the Lucid Air Dream Edition were beginning.

The all-electric Air sedan on Monday was named MotorTrend’s car of the year, a coveted award in the automotive industry. It marks the first time that the initial product from a new automotive company has received the award, according to the publication.

In total, Lucid has said it plans to deliver 520 customer-configured Lucid Air Dream Editions, followed by production of lower-priced models. Lucid told investors in July that it expects to produce 20,000 Lucid Air sedans in 2022, generating more than $2.2 billion in revenue, according to an investor presentation.

The Dream Edition is a $169,000 special edition of its flagship sedan, with an industry-leading range of up to 520 miles, according to the EPA. Pricing for an entry-level version of the car, the Lucid Air sedan, starts at $77,400 before an up to $7,500 federal tax credit for plug-in vehicles.

Lucid is among a handful of EV start-up companies to go public through deals with SPAC companies since last year. But unlike many of its SPAC peers, Lucid is actually generating revenue and producing vehicles. It also has thus far avoided any federal probes into potentially misleading statements to investors unlike others such as Nikola, Lordstown Motors and Canoo.