Bank of America maintained its bearish stance on Lucid Motors, saying the electric vehicle maker’s gross margin, adjusted EBITDA, and revenue came in below its expectations, and noted the company flagged a higher-than-expected impact from tariffs.
BofA’s analyst John Murphy said in a research note on Wednesday that Lucid’s second-quarter adjusted loss per share of ($0.28) “was worse” than the bank’s estimate of ($0.18) and the Bloomberg consensus of ($0.22).
Murphy also noted that revenue of $259 million fell short of both BofA’s estimate of $267 million and the consensus forecast of $262 million.
The company delivered 3,309 vehicles in the second quarter, a result that came in “slightly below our original expectations” — the analyst wrote.
Adj. EBITDA of ($632mm) was worse than BofA of ($617mm) and consensus of ($605mm) driven primarily by more negative gross margin than expected (105.0%) vs. BofAe of (85.0%)
Lucid reported a gross margin of negative 105% for the quarter, with tariffs alone contributing a $54 million impact, equivalent to a 21 percentage point drag.
The hit offset gains from sequential improvements in average selling price, the chief financial officer Taoufiq Boussaid said in the conference call that followed the results on Tuesday.
However, BofA Securities analyst said Lucid “called out a 21percentage point impact to gross margin ~($55mm) from tariffs” which is “higher than expected and the previously guided range of 8%-15%.”
At the earnings conference call, the CFO said the EV maker is “actively taking decisive actions to move margins back towards a positive trajectory.”
“While we anticipated this pressure, we’re actively taking decisive actions to move margins back towards a positive trajectory”, Boussaid stated. “These actions include material cost optimization, improving production efficiency, and tighter inventory management.”
BofA’s analyst said the firm is revising its estimates “to reflect the latest company commentary and recent developments on the regulatory side, including tariffs, IRA incentives, and regulatory credits,” adding that they will “likely weigh negatively on sales and, as a second derivative, on the production ramps for both the Gravity and the Mid-size vehicle (to be launched in late 2026).”
“We cut our valuation multiple to 1.5x EV/Sales (prior 2x) to reflect these incremental challenges,” the analyst wrote while reaffirming the ‘Underperform’ rating and $1.00 price target.
Lucid Motors‘ shares plunged by nearly 1o% on Wednesday, closing at $2.18.
Lucid’s interim chief executive told CNBC on Wednesday the company has enough liquidity to operate through the second half of 2026, but indicated it may seek additional funding if necessary.
Lucid ended the second quarter with $4.86 billion in total liquidity, including $3.63 billion in cash, cash equivalents and investments.
