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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Investor's Corner
Tesla challenges startups to score a gig inside its most advanced European factory
Tesla is challenging startups to bring their best battery tech directly to Gigafactory Berlin.
Tesla has issued an open challenge to startups across Europe, inviting them to bring their best battery technology directly to the floor of Gigafactory Berlin. The program, called the JUNI x Tesla Battery Cell Giga Challenge, opened applications this month with a deadline of July 24, 2026, and is targeting startups with solutions that can make battery cell manufacturing faster, cheaper, safer, and more scalable at an industrial level.
The timing of the challenge is directly tied to Tesla’s most aggressive European battery investment yet. On May 12, 2026, Giga Berlin plant manager André Thierig announced a $250 million investment to scale the factory’s annual 4680 cell production capacity from 8 GWh to 18 GWh, more than doubling the previous target set just months earlier in December 2025. Thierig confirmed the expansion on X, saying the investment “will enable 18 GWh of annual 4680 cell production and create more than 1,500 new jobs.” Combined with a previously announced battery investment at the Grunheide site now approaches $1.2 billion.
Today, we announced a $ 250m investment for our Giga Berlin Cell factory. This will enable 18GWh of annual 4680 cell production and create more than 1500 new jobs. Good news during challenging times for the German industry. pic.twitter.com/ou4SWMfWh9
— André Thierig (@AndrThie) May 12, 2026
The challenge is looking specifically for startups with proven solutions across five categories: materials, equipment, operations, automation, and artificial intelligence. Applications are screened directly by Tesla’s cell manufacturing team in Grunheide, and the strongest submissions move through technical discussions, a pitch day in front of Tesla stakeholders, and potentially a paid pilot project with the cell team. Tesla is not looking for ideas at concept stage. The program requires applicants to demonstrate working prototypes, test data, or prior pilots before being considered.
The historical context matters here. Elon Musk first announced plans for what he called the world’s largest battery cell production facility alongside the Giga Berlin car factory back in 2020, targeting up to 250 GWh of annual capacity. Those plans were shelved in 2022 when Tesla shifted its battery investment focus to the United States to take advantage of Inflation Reduction Act incentives. The revival of cell production at Giga Berlin, now backed by over $1 billion in committed capital, represents a return to an ambition that was set aside for three years. As Teslarati has reported, the 4680 format is central to Tesla’s long-term cost reduction strategy across vehicles, energy storage, including the Tesla Semi and Cybercab.
By opening the challenge to outside startups, Tesla is acknowledging that reaching 18 GWh at Grunheide will require technology it does not currently have in-house, and it is willing to pay for the right solutions. For a startup in the battery supply chain, a paid pilot with Tesla’s European cell team is as close to a direct commercial path as the industry offers.
Investor's Corner
Tesla crushes Wall Street expectations, beats delivery estimates by over 15 percent
Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) beat Wall Street expectations of 406,000 vehicles delivered in Q2 by reporting 480,126 deliveries for the three months ending in June.
Tesla reported it delivered 467,762 Model 3 and Model Y units, while 12,364 Model S, Model X, and Cybertrucks switched hands during the quarter. The Model S and Model X were officially sunset this past quarter and will no longer be part of the company’s Production & Delivery reports moving forward.
🚨 BREAKING: Tesla delivered 480,126 vehicles in Q2, ANNIHILATING Wall Street expectations of 406,000. Production was reported at 451,758.
Deliveries:
Model 3/Y: 467,762
Other Models: 12,364Production:
Model 3/Y: 442,936
Other Models: 8,822 https://t.co/TTHwQAsKt8 pic.twitter.com/7qI4Zj6FE5— TESLARATI (@Teslarati) July 2, 2026
The quarter is a pleasant surprise and a good rebound from Q1, when Tesla slightly missed the Wall Street consensus of 365,645 cars by reporting 358,023 deliveries for the first three motnhs of the year.
Energy storage deployments also provided some strength in Tesla’s delivery report, hitting 13.5 GWh for Q2. This is a particular division of Tesla’s business that has been overwhelmingly robust over the past few years, truly being a strong point of the company’s overall model.
For the year, Tesla analysts still predict deliveries to trend in the 1.69 million unit region, a modest 3 to 5 percent increase from the 1.64 million cars the company delivered last year. Tesla will likely return to more sequential and noticeable year-over-year growth as the Cybercab project starts to ramp up considerably in the next few years.
Tesla has some other potential catalysts to spur vehicle deliveries, too. Not only is it expecting Cybercab to truly start making a change in the next few years, but other vehicles could be entering the company’s lineup.
Tesla sends production Cybercab with no steering wheel, pedals to on-road testing
The slightly longer Model Y L has been a highly speculated release candidate in the U.S. It has already done incredibly well in China, and U.S. buyers have been wanting slightly more interior space than the Model Y. Now that the Model X is gone, it is more needed than ever.
Q2 highlights a pretty stable automotive division within Tesla, and no true concerns arise from these figures, especially considering it managed to beat expectations convincingly.
Investor's Corner
Tesla gets its latest short from Michael Burry: ‘Happy it jumped back to this level’
Tesla short seller Michael Burry, the subject of the film “The Big Short,” where he was portrayed by Steve Carell, has revealed he has opened a new bet against the stock.
In a new update to his Substack newsletter in a post titled “Trading Post June 30, 2026,” Burry revealed a new set of bets against Tesla, Caterpillar, NVIDIA, Applied Materials Inc., and the iShares Semiconductor ETF.
In regard to Tesla, Burry wrote:
“And finally I shorted Tesla at 416.22. Happy it jumped back to this level.”
This means Burry likely opened his new short position after the company’s recent rally on Wall Street, which saw Tesla shares sink in mid-May, only to recover to well over the $400 mark. Currently, shares trade at around $427.
The company saw a big Tuesday as shares climbed considerably, over 10 percent. The size of the Tesla short was not provided, nor did Burry give any information on the position’s structure, the number of shares, dollar value, or whether options were used in the short.
The Tesla and SpaceX merger everyone is talking about is quietly building
Over the years, Burry has been one of the more vocal critics of Tesla, calling its share price “media inflated,” and saying it was “ridiculously overvalued” as recently as December.
The company has largely transitioned away from being known as an automotive company and instead is much more widely regarded as an AI play, mostly due to its Full Self-Driving efforts, Optimus robot development, and data collection related to both.
This has not pulled those skeptics away from being vocal about their distaste for how Tesla is valued, but there’s no denying that the company is a global force in many things, including sustainable energy, automotive, and AI.