Lucid Motors (LCID) Q1 2023 results: Production and deliveries drop, but liquidity remains high

American automaker Lucid Motors has shared its financial report for Q1 2023 ahead of its call with shareholders later today. While year-over-year growth is encouraging, most numbers are down compared to last quarter. Still, the company remains quite optimistic about its future.

Although Lucid Motors ($LCID) still stumbled over a production finish line that it had to move up closer twice in 2022, the American EV automaker capped off the year on a high note. Q4 saw its highest output to date, producing nearly 3,500 Lucid Air sedans, although it only delivered 1,920 of them.

At that time, the company relayed that it still had 28,000 unfulfilled EV reservations, equating to approximately $2.7 billion in sales revenue should they all come to fruition. Despite falling significantly short on both initially anticipated production and deliveries last year, Lucid reported total liquidity of $4.9 billion – relaying that the company had enough capital to keep its operation going through at least Q1 of 2024.

Entering 2023, the automaker’s production guidance was targeting between 10,000-14,000 EVs and could land closer to the higher end if it were to maintain the 3,500 vehicle pace that began in Q4.

In April, we learned that Q1 deliveries slipped a bit compared to a quarter ago, so Lucid will have some catching up to do in 2023. Following today’s more detailed quarterly report, the automaker relayed continued confidence that it will be able to produce at least 10,000 vehicles this year and still has plenty of money to get there.

Lucid revenue was down in Q1 2023 but way up YOY

Per the financial reports released by Lucid Motors this afternoon, its revenue for Q1 2023 was $149.4 million, which is a 159% increase compared to a year ago. In contrast to a quarter ago, however, Lucid’s revenue is down. In Q4 2022, the automaker reported $257.7 million.

You could blame seasonality for the higher numbers in Q4 as everyone scrambled to sell as many EVs as possible before year’s end, but Q1 2023 revenue is also down from Lucid’s Q3 2022 numbers ($195.5 million). Even so, the automaker still has loads of cash on hand and once again relayed confidence it will remain liquid for at least another year. Per Lucid CFO Sherry House:

Our Q1 revenue was approximately $149 million, which represented a year-over-year increase of 159%. We ended the quarter with just over $3.4 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and investments, with total liquidity of approximately $4.1 billion, which we believe is sufficient to fund the Company at least into Q2 of 2024. Our mission and optimism are unchanged. We are committed to an environmentally sustainable future – designing, building, and delivering the best EVs on the market.

As we reported last month, Lucid Motors produced 2,314 vehicles at its AMP-1 manufacturing facility in Arizona in Q1 2023 and delivered 1,406 of them. Following those numbers, the automaker has now focused on the lower end of its previous production guidance, stating it remains on track to produce 10,000 EVs this year.

Company CEO and CTO Peter Rawlinson briefly addressed the production guidance, and then quickly pivoted to promoting Lucid’s second model – the Gravity SUV, which is currently going through public road testing and is slotted to begin production in 2024. Per the release:

We are on track to produce over 10,000 vehicles in 2023, with company-wide initiatives ongoing that will enable Lucid to pivot to higher volumes as market conditions allow. We continue to grow our brand awareness and I’m proud to say that the Lucid Air was recently awarded a number of prestigious industry accolades. We will unveil our Gravity SUV later this year ahead of its launch in 2024 and we cannot wait for everyone to experience it. The Lucid Air redefined the luxury sedan category and we believe the continuing advancements of our in-house technology position our Gravity SUV to do the same in the SUV category – game-changing range, driving experience, charging speed, voluminous interior space, and an unrivaled combination of luxury and performance.

Lucid says the Gravity will be fully unveiled to the public later this year as the automaker continues Phase 2 construction of its Arizona facility to make way for SUV production and additional Air production capacity. The automaker said it would take its powertrain production facility, currently stationed up the road, and move it on-site as well.

Lastly, Lucid Motors says Air Pure availability will expand in the second half of 2023, and production of the tri-motor Air Sapphire will begin this summer.

You can check out the full Q1 2023 financial report from Lucid Motors here and tune into the 4:30 p.m. PDT call with shareholders using this link.