Here's How Lucid Can STOP Disappointing Investors

When Lucid Group (LCID 5.15%) went public in 2021, it initially soared on hype for electric vehicles (EVs). But it has since lost its luster with investors, and has now lost almost 90% of its value since its initial public offering. Some thought Lucid was the next Tesla, as it had the luxury look and designs, as well as advanced EV technology and performance.

Despite comparing well to Tesla in its very early history, Lucid hasn’t been able to keep pace with how quickly Tesla built its scale within a few years. If Lucid is going to shift into a higher gear and stop disappointing investors, this is the next step it has to take.

Numbers never lie

If investors merely scratch the surface of Lucid’s and rival Rivian Automotive’s (RIVN 2.83%) basic numbers, a narrative quickly develops. Lucid, on one hand, is finally building scale and boosting its top line by setting eight consecutive quarters of record vehicle deliveries. Lucid should easily continue to set record vehicle deliveries throughout 2026, as it will be the first full year of sales for the recently launched Gravity SUV.

Rivian, on the other hand, while still outselling Lucid in total volume of vehicles, actually posted a 14.5% decline in production and 18% decline in deliveries last year, compared to 2024.

Image source: Lucid.

Here’s the kicker, though: Despite those rivals going different directions with sales, Rivian has made far more progress in unit economics. Rivian has been consistently improving its gross profit by reducing costs per vehicle unit. The young EV maker achieved its first-ever quarterly positive gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2024, and then achieved its first-ever full-year positive gross profit in 2025.

This is how Lucid stops disappointing

Compared to Rivian, Lucid is behind in the race to improve unit economics and drive gross profitability – the first step in proving to investors that there’s a real path to bottom-line earnings. The good news for investors is that Lucid made some progress recently and has more in store for 2026.

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NASDAQ: LCID

Lucid Group

Today’s Change

(-5.15%) $-0.51

Current Price

$9.40

Key Data Points

Market Cap

$3.2B

Day’s Range

$9.38 - $9.83

52wk Range

$9.12 - $33.70

Volume

133K

Avg Vol

7.3M

Gross Margin

-9280.51%

One example was Lucid’s roughly 25% bill of materials (BOM) cost improvement for the Gravity last year. Lucid navigated challenging supply chain issues and optimized it, which significantly reduced Gravity manufacturing costs. Lucid has also improved its vehicle quality and defect rates, while lowering its warranty costs for the Air sedan by 85% over the past three years.

Here’s a look at Lucid’s roadmap for further reducing BOM on not only the Gravity, but its upcoming midsize platform that’s scheduled for low-volume production late this year.

Image source: Lucid’s Investor Day Presentation.

For investors, it’s past time to admit that Lucid is not the next Tesla. That doesn’t mean it can’t still be a valuable investment. But to become a valuable investment long-term, and to stop disappointing investors despite its delivery momentum, it needs to close the gap on unit economics improvement and do what Rivian has done in recent years: improve gross profits. It has a plan, and now we’ll see if Lucid can execute – the sooner the better.