Needham on Wednesday maintained a Hold rating on Lucid, citing early positive momentum for the EV maker’s new model following first-quarter results released on Tuesday.
The firm said in a note that the Gravity, Lucid’s second vehicle model, is “off to a strong start,” giving the company “a second chance at a first impression with potential new customers.”
Lucid’s interim CEO Marc Winterhoff said during the earnings call that the first unit of the limited-run Gravity ‘Dream Edition’ had already been delivered in the United States. The German executive had previously said that U.S. deliveries would be resumed in late April.
Shortly after the call, Lucid’s Senior Vice President of Operations, Adrian Price, said in a LinkedIn post that a new batch of Gravity vehicles is ready for shipment to Saudi Arabia for final assembly.
There, the Saudi-backed company has an assembly plant which is currently being transformed into a complete build unit, also known as CBU.
Bagri said the Gravity is “expected to drive the bulk of this year’s unit growth,” as the company scales vehicle production.
Lucid reiterated on Tuesday that it aims to produce “approximately 20,000” vehicles in 2025, more than double the roughly 9,000 units produced in 2024. With first-quarter production at about 2,200 units, Lucid expects to average nearly 6,000 vehicles per quarter over the rest of the year.
Bagri said Lucid is relatively insulated from tariffs imposed under the Trump administration compared to legacy automakers, but warned that liquidity remains a key concern due to the company’s capital-intensive growth plans and ongoing losses.
“Valuation remains pressured by uncertainty around scaling, margin improvements, and execution of future total addressable market-expanding models,” Bagri wrote, adding that investors are “waiting for more concrete signs of sustained progress.”
“We reiterate our Hold rating, with the stock trading at ~12.5x our FY29E adjusted EBITDA, discounted back,” he said.
Earlier this Wednesday, Bank of America also released a new note commenting on the results. The bank reiterated its Underperform rating and $1.00 price target on Lucid Motors, representing a downside of 57%.
As reported earlier this week, Lucid saw its German sales fall for the sixth consecutive month in April. In the Netherlands, where its European headquarters are located, the brand sold one car, down from the 12 recorded in March.
