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Lucid rejects bankruptcy report after stock plunge
Lucid says bankruptcy rumors are false and that it has enough liquidity to keep operating well into next year.
Image: TechCrunch
Lucid Motors says a report that it is considering Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection is false. In a statement to TechCrunch, chief communications officer Nick Twork said the company has “sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year,” as disclosed in its latest quarterly filings, and that it has not created any special board committee to examine the scenarios described in the report.
“The company has sufficient liquidity to carry its operations well into next year, as recently published in its last quarterly filings, and it has not formed any special Board committee to explore the scenarios reported today.”
Lucid’s response followed a brutal day in the market. According to Bloomberg News, the company’s stock fell more than 50% on Tuesday, its biggest intraday drop ever. Shares later recovered part of that loss and were trading at $4.72 at 2:46 p.m. ET, still about 14% below the opening price.
Earlier Tuesday, an EV blog cited two unnamed sources who said Lucid was weighing either a Chapter 11 filing or a move to go private, allegedly on the recommendation of consulting firm AlixPartners. Twork said AlixPartners is working with Lucid only to strengthen operations and “nothing else,” and said the firm has not recommended bankruptcy to management or the board.
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The report landed as Lucid is already under pressure. The company recently appointed a new CEO and has laid off more than 2,000 employees this year as part of a broad restructuring ahead of the planned launch of a smaller, cheaper electric SUV later this year. Lucid also said this month that it would cut a second production shift at its Arizona factory to better match output with expected demand.
In the second quarter, Lucid delivered 3,953 vehicles, only slightly more than in the same period last year. The company has long struggled to broaden demand for its luxury EVs despite strong technical credentials.
At the same time, Lucid is pushing ahead with a robotaxi effort with Uber and Nuro that it aims to launch by the end of this year. Under that deal, Uber has committed to buy at least 35,000 Nuro-equipped Lucid vehicles over the next few years, including 10,000 Gravity SUVs and 25,000 vehicles based on Lucid’s upcoming midsize EV platform.
Frontier Editor
Dan is our resident futurist, covering electric mobility, space exploration, and the smart home. He's interested in atoms just as much as bits. Whether it's a new battery chemistry, a reusable rocket, or a protocol that finally makes IoT devices talk to each other, Dan breaks down the engineering that pushes humanity forward.
via TechCrunch
