EV automaker Lucid Motors slashed its annual production guidance in half on Wednesday due to what CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson described as “extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges.”
Shares of Lucid fell more than 12% in after-market trading following the release of its second-quarter earnings, in which it provided the production guidance.
Lucid lowered its production guidance from 12,000 to 14,000 vehicles to 6,000 and 7,000 vehicles for the year. That’s just a quarter of the 20,000 luxury Air sedans the company initially planned to produce n 2022. In February, Lucid adjusted that loftier goal down to 12,000 to 14,000 vehicles.
Lucid doesn’t appear to have a demand problem. The company reported it has more than 37,000 reservations for its Air sedan, a 23% increase from just a few months ago. It has failed to capitalize on that demand, delivering just 679 vehicles in the second quarter. In the first half of the year, Lucid produced 1,405 vehicles and delivered 1,039 of them.
“Our revised production guidance reflects the extraordinary supply chain and logistics challenges we encountered,” said Rawlinson said in a statement.
Rawlinson attempted to soothe investors’ concerns during the earnings call with analysts, emphasizing that the company has identified the primary bottlenecks and have already taken steps to begin to remedy the situation. He added that Lucid is bringing its logistics operations in-house.
“I’m right here on the front line,” Rawlinson said as part of his prepared remarks ahead of questions from analysts. “And I’ve been spending the vast majority of my time here, right here on the shop floor. I believe it’s my responsibility as the CEO to be here resolving issues and helping to onboard the new executives.”
Lucid also announced that it has hired longtime Stellantis employee Steven David as senior vice president of operations, a position that encompasses supply chain, logistics, manufacturing, and quality. David, who has three decades of experience in manufacturing and operations, most recently headed up Stellantis’s component operations.
Lucid reported it generated $97.3 million in revenue in the second quarter. While the company, which went public last year, did see its Q2 revenue pop from $57.6 million in revenue in the first quarter and just $174,000 in the same period last year, it was still far below analysts’ expectations.
Analysts surveyed by Yahoo Finance expected revenue of $145.5 million and an earnings per share loss of 36 cents. Lucid reported an earnings per share loss of 33 cents and adjusted net loss of $414 million. That is nearly double the adjusted net loss of $218 million that Lucid reported in the second quarter of 2021.
Lucid said it ended the quarter with $4.6 billion cash, cash equivalents, and investments, which it said is expected to fund the company well into 2023.
Lucid is hardly the only automaker to have supply chain issues cause production delays and, as a result, decimate sales. GM saw a 40% drop in profits year-over-year. And while, Ford was able to dodge those kind of results and actually beat Wall Street expectations on revenue and earnings, the company did say that supply chain constraints caused losses in its China business. Those losses were offset by sales growth in North America and Europe.
