Written by Cláudio Afonso | LinkedIn | X
Hedge fund D.E. Shaw added 14.83 million shares of EV maker Lucid Motors late last year, closing 2024 with more than 24.4 million shares, a stake valued at nearly $74 million as of year-end.
In Q3 2023, D.E. Shaw fully exited its position in the Saudi-backed company, selling its remaining 73,848 shares, before re-entering in Q4 2023 with a new stake of 782,682 shares.
D.E. Shaw, one of the hedge fund industry’s biggest players, continued to expand its holdings throughout 2024, with its latest accumulation making it one of the largest institutional investors in Lucid.
In Q4 alone, the firm more than doubled its position in the California based manufacturer and became the fourth largest institutional shareholder.
The investment firm, founded in 1988, was created by David Shaw and manages over $60 billion in assets. Shaw is among the 400 richest persons in the world with a networth of nearly $8 billion, according to Forbes.
Call and Put Options
D.E. Shaw increased its call options for the fourth consecutive quarter in Q4, ending 2024 with approximately 3.19 million contracts. Meanwhile, the hedge fund, which had held 150,000 put options at the end of Q3, sold its entire position in the fourth quarter.
Lucid shares closed 3% lower on Wednesday at $3.37. The stock hit a record low of under $2 in November and has since gained 74% from that level.
D.E. Shaw first opened a position in Lucid in the second half of 2020, before the company went public through a merger with Churchill Capital Corp IV, a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC).
Morgan Stanley
Morgan Stanley disclosed in its latest quarterly portfolio update that it added 7,252,465 shares of Lucid Motors during the fourth quarter, bringing its total holdings to a record high of over 22.8 million shares.
As of December 31, the investment bank’s position in Lucid was valued at more than $69 million after the 46.4% increase in shares held between October and December.
BlackRock
As recently reported by EV, BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, added 5.4 million shares in Lucid in the fourth quarter of 2024. The firm increased its stake in the company by 12.7%.
BlackRock ended the year holding more than 48.5 million Lucid shares, valued at nearly $147 million, according to its latest 13F filing.
Saudi-Backed EV Maker
Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund (PIF) has a stake of about 60% in the company. In October, Lucid announced a combined public offering and private placement of approximately 637 million shares to raise over $1.7 billion.
The offering consisted of a public sale of over 262 million shares, while Ayar Third Investment — an affiliate of the PIF — committed to buying nearly 375 million shares through a private placement.
