A retail investor has invested more than $7.6 million in shares of electric vehicle maker Lucid Motors, betting the California-based company could benefit from recent pressure on Tesla’s brand.
The investor, posting under the username Psychological_Ask301 on Reddit’s WallStreetBets forum, disclosed screenshots showing Lucid stakes spread across three brokerage accounts.
The screenshots show holdings of 1.36 million, 851,093, and 695,093 shares—totaling more than 2.9 million shares acquired at an average price of $2.63.
Lucid shares were trading at exactly $2.629 at the time of writing, putting the value of the position at approximately $7.64 million. Year-to-date, the stock is down roughly 12%.
In a post titled, “$7M into LCID across 3 accounts. Betting Tesla stumbles, Lucid wakes up. Am I early or cooked?”, the investor framed the trade as a high-risk, high-reward play.
“I’ve been watching Elon tweet like a politician while Lucid quietly builds,” the post read, referring to Tesla CEO Elon Musk’s involvement in politics.
“Gravity SUV’s coming, Tesla’s brand [is] taking hits, and Lucid’s sitting at sub-$3 like it’s 2020 again,” the user wrote.
“If they capture even a slice of Tesla’s market share — 5%, hell, even 3% — the upside’s there… This is either a setup for a massive win or a long-term relationship with my red bags.”
Lucid doubled its U.S. incentives this month to include a $4,000 Tesla trade-in bonus across 12 states, in addition to a $7,500 federal tax credit, which lowers the entry-level price of the Lucid Air sedan to $63,975.
U.S. registrations in April rose 32% year-on-year to 820 units, down from 942 in March, according to Motor Intelligence. That total included just five Gravity SUVs, as production of the new model continues to ramp up.
In comparison, Tesla registered 45,875 EVs in the U.S. in April, down 3% year-on-year but up from 44,835 units in March.
Lucid recently removed the custom order option for all Air models — except the $249,000 Air Sapphire, which is already fully equipped — from its U.S. website.
Prospective buyers are now directed to a pre-configured inventory of new, demo, and pre-owned vehicles.
Responding to comments suggesting diversification, the investor cited Lucid’s plan to double production in 2025 and trade-in incentives moves as key drivers. “Tesla owners are running to Lcid, myself included,” the user claimed.
Tesla shares rose over 8% in the last five days and nearly 29% over the last month.
In late March, Lucid’s Interim CEO Marc Winterhoff said Tesla owners “always have been a source for us, for new customers because they’re used to EVs and they are looking for an option other than Tesla.”
Speaking with Fox Business, Winterhoff added, “I have to say we see a dramatic uptick in the last two months.”
