Investor's Corner
Lucid reports Q1 2022 Earnings tonight: Here’s What to Expect
Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) will report its earnings for the first quarter of 2022 this evening after market close. Analysts are expecting several things from the electric automaker, which completed first deliveries of its introductory EV, the Lucid Air Dream Edition, last October.
Lucid became public in July 2021 after a SPAC merger, and the price per share spiked to more than double its IPO price by mid-November. Trading as high as $57.75, shares started to cool down and have dropped more than 66 percent since peak levels.
Earlier this year, Lucid held its Q4 2021 and Full Year 2021 Earnings Call, where it celebrated numerous accomplishments. However, the automaker was forced to announce that it would be trimming its 2022 vehicle production forecast by 30 percent, from 20,000 vehicles to between 12,000 and 14,000 units instead. Citing “a continued focus on quality,” Lucid Group CEO Peter Rawlinson said the automaker would insist on only using the best parts available. This became an issue for Lucid, as these parts were usually not easy to get because of global supply chain bottlenecks, which Rawlinson said were the biggest issue in the Air’s ramp up. Additionally, outbreaks of COVID-19 at supplier facilities also contributed to the parts shortages.
-->“In some cases, the pandemic meant that our teams could not visit our suppliers in-person to ensure alignment on engineering specifications and tooling,” Rawlinson said about the supply chain issues. “As travel has opened back up, our supplier quality teams have been able to address many of these issues. I will note that these issues are impacting only a handful of our approximately 250 suppliers and are not affecting critical single-source or dual-source components like semiconductors or batteries. Instead, it’s been commodity items like glass and carpets, and we’ve adapted by changing our specifications or indeed switching vendors if needed.”
2022 has not been a completely bad year for Lucid. Last week, the automaker agreed to a massive 100,000 vehicle deal with Saudi Arabia, where the company would build its first international production facility. The deal starts with an initial commitment of at least 50,000 vehicles, with the option to purchase 50,000 additional cars over a ten-year period.
Wall Street Expectations
Analysts are expecting Lucid Group to report 2022 first-quarter revenue of $53.43 million, according to Yahoo Finance estimates. Analysts are also estimating an EPS loss of $0.31 per share, according to MarketWatch data.
Following Lucid’s production outlook reduction earlier this year, Bank of America analyst John Murphy said the surprise was “somewhat surprising in magnitude,” but it did expect a slight reduction in the company’s manufacturing targets. Murphy holds a $60 price target on Lucid stock and maintained the “Buy” rating he held on the company’s shares citing the company’s new Saudi Arabia factory as a chance for more international expansion and Lucid’s strong financials, backed by 25,000 orders of the Air sedan.
“Capacity from this facility is targeted to be 150k vehicles per annum, initially to fulfill the Saudi Arabia market demand, but eventually to export to other global markets, and construction is targeted to commence in 1H:22,” Murphy said.
-->Disclosure: Joey Klender is not a LCID Shareholder.
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Tesla bear Michael Burry got blunt with his beliefs over the company’s valuation, which he called “ridiculously overvalued” in a newsletter to subscribers this past weekend.
“Tesla’s market capitalization is ridiculously overvalued today and has been for a good long time,” Burry, who was the inspiration for the movie The Big Short, and was portrayed by Christian Bale.
Burry went on to say, “As an aside, the Elon cult was all-in on electric cars until competition showed up, then all-in on autonomous driving until competition showed up, and now is all-in on robots — until competition shows up.”
Tesla bear Michael Burry ditches bet against $TSLA, says ‘media inflated’ the situation
For a long time, Burry has been skeptical of Tesla, its stock, and its CEO, Elon Musk, even placing a $530 million bet against shares several years ago. Eventually, Burry’s short position extended to other supporters of the company, including ARK Invest.
-->Tesla has long drawn skepticism from investors and more traditional analysts, who believe its valuation is overblown. However, the company is not traded as a traditional stock, something that other Wall Street firms have recognized.
While many believe the company has some serious pull as an automaker, an identity that helped it reach the valuation it has, Tesla has more than transformed into a robotics, AI, and self-driving play, pulling itself into the realm of some of the most recognizable stocks in tech.
Burry’s Scion Asset Management has put its money where its mouth is against Tesla stock on several occasions, but the firm has not yielded positive results, as shares have increased in value since 2020 by over 115 percent. The firm closed in May.
In 2020, it launched its short position, but by October 2021, it had ditched that position.
Tesla has had a tumultuous year on Wall Street, dipping significantly to around the $220 mark at one point. However, it rebounded significantly in September, climbing back up to the $400 region, as it currently trades at around $430.
-->It closed at $430.14 on Monday.
Investor's Corner
Mizuho keeps Tesla (TSLA) “Outperform” rating but lowers price target
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected.
Mizuho analyst Vijay Rakesh lowered Tesla’s (NASDAQ:TSLA) price target to $475 from $485, citing potential 2026 EV subsidy cuts in the U.S. and China that could pressure deliveries. The firm maintained its Outperform rating for the electric vehicle maker, however.
As per the Mizuho analyst, upcoming changes to EV incentives in the U.S. and China could affect Tesla’s unit growth more than previously expected. The U.S. accounted for roughly 37% of Tesla’s third-quarter 2025 sales, while China represented about 34%, making both markets highly sensitive to policy shifts. Potential 50% cuts to Chinese subsidies and reduced U.S. incentives affected the firm’s outlook.
With those pressures factored in, the firm now expects Tesla to deliver 1.75 million vehicles in 2026 and 2 million in 2027, slightly below consensus estimates of 1.82 million and 2.15 million, respectively. The analyst was cautiously optimistic, as near-term pressure from subsidies is there, but the company’s long-term tech roadmap remains very compelling.
Despite the revised target, Mizuho remained optimistic on Tesla’s long-term technology roadmap. The firm highlighted three major growth drivers into 2027: the broader adoption of Full Self-Driving V14, the expansion of Tesla’s Robotaxi service, and the commercialization of Optimus, the company’s humanoid robot.
“We are lowering TSLA Ests/PT to $475 with Potential BEV headwinds in 2026E. We believe into 2026E, US (~37% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) EV subsidy cuts and China (34% of TSLA 3Q25 sales) potential 50% EV subsidy cuts could be a headwind to EV deliveries.
-->“We are now estimating TSLA deliveries for 2026/27E at 1.75M/2.00M (slightly below cons. 1.82M/2.15M). We see some LT drivers with FSD v14 adoption for autonomous, robotaxi launches, and humanoid robots into 2027 driving strength,” the analyst noted.
Tesla stock (NASDAQ: TSLA) has landed an elusive “must own” status from Wall Street firm Melius, according to a new note released early this week.
Analyst Rob Wertheimer said Tesla will lead the charge in world-changing tech, given the company’s focus on self-driving, autonomy, and Robotaxi. In a note to investors, Wertheimer said “the world is about to change, dramatically,” because of the advent of self-driving cars.
He looks at the industry and sees many potential players, but the firm says there will only be one true winner:
“Our point is not that Tesla is at risk, it’s that everybody else is.”
The major argument is that autonomy is nearing a tipping point where years of chipping away at the software and data needed to develop a sound, safe, and effective form of autonomous driving technology turn into an avalanche of progress.
Wertheimer believes autonomy is a $7 trillion sector,” and in the coming years, investors will see “hundreds of billions in value shift to Tesla.”
A lot of the major growth has to do with the all-too-common “butts in seats” strategy, as Wertheimer believes that only a fraction of people in the United States have ridden in a self-driving car. In Tesla’s regard, only “tens of thousands” have tried Tesla’s latest Full Self-Driving (Supervised) version, which is v14.
Tesla Full Self-Driving v14.2 – Full Review, the Good and the Bad
When it reaches a widespread rollout and more people are able to experience Tesla Full Self-Driving v14, he believes “it will shock most people.”
Citing things like Tesla’s massive data pool from its vehicles, as well as its shift to end-to-end neural nets in 2021 and 2022, as well as the upcoming AI5 chip, which will be put into a handful of vehicles next year, but will reach a wider rollout in 2027, Melius believes many investors are not aware of the pace of advancement in self-driving.
Tesla’s lead in its self-driving efforts is expanding, Wertheimer says. The company is making strategic choices on everything from hardware to software, manufacturing, and overall vehicle design. He says Tesla has left legacy automakers struggling to keep pace as they still rely on outdated architectures and fragmented supplier systems.
Tesla shares are up over 6 percent at 10:40 a.m. on the East Coast, trading at around $416.
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