Benchmark reiterated on Thursday its bullish outlook on Lucid Motors, ahead of the company’s fourth-quarter earnings report scheduled for February 24.
Analyst Mickey Legg reiterated a Buy rating and $30 price target on the EV maker, which implies a 206.1% upside potential based on Wednesday’s closing price of $9.80.
In late August, Lucid shareholders approved a reverse 1-for-10 stock split, with the interim CEO Marc Winterhoff naming the decreased volatility and the access from institutions to the stock as the main reasons for the move.
After Lucid’s $875 million convertible note offering last November, Benchmark lowered its price target for the company from $70 to $30, explaining that the change reflected an adjustment for the recent stock split.
Since the reverse split became effective, Lucid‘s shares hit a maximum value of $25.23 on October 6, before dropping sharply to about $10 in the following three months.
Its shares closed at $10.57 on December 31, 2025, and tanked further to a new low of $9.50 on January 20.
As of press time, the stock was trading 0.8% lower at $9.72.
Benchmark’s Take
In a new research note, first obtained by PriceTarget, analyst Mickey Legg wrote that stronger-than-expected deliveries and production in the fourth quarter point to an upcoming “clean-up quarter” when Lucid reports its earnings results.
The company delivered 15,841 vehicles in 2025, a 55% year over year increase from the previous year.
Of those, 5,345 units were registered in the fourth quarter alone.
According to Legg, the fourth-quarter results will be centered on “gross margin progression,” as production of the Gravity model ramps up and the tariff impact decreases.
At the same time, the analyst estimates that Lucid will report operating expenses (Opex) under control by the end of 2025, especially in R&D (Research and Development) and SG&A (Selling, General and Administrative expenses).
Legg warned, however, about the “cash burn and liquidity runway, given heightened sensitivity around funding into late 2026.”
Benchmark expects Lucid to “reiterate that profitability remains a 2026–27 story, driven primarily by Gravity mix, cost-down initiatives, and the eventual midsize launch.”
Gravity SUV
Furthermore, Lucid has been facing several issues with the Gravity SUV, for which deliveries have been slower than expected.
Just last week, the company halted deliveries of the SUV due to a defective middle seat component that required replacement.
It happened just 10 days after the recently appointed SVP of Engineering and Digital Emad Dlala said the company was able to solve up to 95% of issues plaguing the Gravity software since the vehicle launch.
At the same time, Lucid failed to announce the commencement of Gravity deliveries in Europe in January, a target that management had set at the vehicle’s official European launch a few months before.
Mid-Size Launch
Lucid will produce its mid-size platform in Saudi Arabia, which will allow it to bypass (US) tariffs on imported parts from China, as Chief Financial Officer Taoufiq Boussaid said late last year.
The production at the Casa Grande plant has not yet been confirmed.
The company plans to start Saudi manufacturing operations in late 2026, gradually ramp up output in 2027 and 2028, and reach a maximum capacity of 150,000 vehicles in 2029.
Last week, the company’s President of Middle East Faisal Sultan reiterated that Lucid is “on time” to launch the model “end of this year out of this plant.”
“We are on time. Probably one of the, you know, very few projects that are on time,” he commented. “So we want to keep it there, a little bit ahead of schedule, actually, right now. And hopefully we can make that happen.”
The company recently assembled the first prototype of the mid-size platform’s platform debut model at its Arizona plant.
Executive Changes
The company has also been battling key leadership changes in the past two years, including the exit of the Chief Financial Officer Sherry House — who joined Ford in early 2025 — and Senior VP of Product and Chief Engineer Eric Bach.
More recently, Senior VP of Strategy and Business Development Claudia Gast resigned, as first reported by EV. Gast joined the Detroit automaker GM.
On top of that, Lucid continues searching for a new Chief Executive Officer, after Peter Rawlinson was replaced a year ago.
Marc Winterhoff, formerly Lucid’s Chief Operating Officer (COO), has served as interim CEO since then.
On March 12, the company will hold an Investor Day, in which it will provide “a comprehensive update on the company’s strategic priorities, operational execution, long-term growth roadmap, and financial outlook.”
