A Rivian electric truck is parked in front of a Rivian service center on August 8, 2023 in south San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | fake images
Electric Vehicle Manufacturers Stock rivian and Lucid plunged on Thursday after companies reported disappointing results and stagnant production in their fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday.
Rivian shares plunged about 25% and Lucid shares sank nearly 17% on Thursday.
Rivian forecasts it will make 57,000 vehicles in 2024, down slightly from the 57,232 vehicles the company produced last year. Lucid said it expects to make 9,000 vehicles in 2024, about 7% more than the 8,428 vehicles it made in 2023.
Rivian's revenue of $1.32 billion during the quarter beat Wall Street estimates, but its net loss per share of $1.36 was worse than expected, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. The company also announced Wednesday that it would cut 10% of its workforce.
“Our business is not immune to existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties, particularly the impact of historically high interest rates, which have negatively impacted demand,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said on the company's earnings conference call. Wednesday.
Lucid reported lower-than-expected revenue of $157.2 million for the quarter, and its net loss of 30 cents per share was in line with estimates, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said the macroeconomic environment and higher interest rates also affected the company. He said the company has had to learn to operate in new locations, such as Saudi Arabia, with different market dynamics.
Although companies have invested billions of dollars in electric vehicles, sales have grown more slowly than expected. Electric vehicles accounted for 6.9% of sales through December, or approximately 976,560 units, an increase of 1.7 percentage points compared to total sales in 2022.
Rivian and Lucid account for a fraction of electric vehicle sales compared to industry leader Tesla. An analysis by Cox Automotive found that Rivian accounted for just over 4% of EV sales in 2023, while Lucid accounted for 0.5%. Tesla controlled about 55% of the market.
Rivian shares fell about 40% last year and are down 85% from their initial public offering price of $78 per share in November 2021. Lucid shares are down about 70% last year and are down more than 75% from its IPO price of $14 per share in October 2021.
Rivian and Lucid weren't the only electric vehicle producers Wall Street watched on Thursday.
electric truck manufacturer Nicholas reported worse-than-expected revenue and a slightly better-than-expected loss per share in its earnings on Thursday. The stock was trading virtually flat on Thursday and has lost almost all of its value since hitting an all-time high of $93.99 in June 2020.
—CNBC's Michael Wayland contributed to this report.
