A Rivian electric truck is parked in front of a Rivian service center on August 08, 2023 in South San Francisco, California.
Justin Sullivan | Getty Images
Shares of electric car makers Rivian And Clear It fell on Thursday after companies reported disappointing results and stagnant production in fourth-quarter earnings after the bell on Wednesday.
Rivian shares fell about 25% and Lucid shares fell about 17% on Thursday.
Rivian expects that it will manufacture 57,000 vehicles in 2024, slightly less than the 57,232 vehicles the company produced last year. Lucid said it expects to produce 9,000 vehicles in 2024, an increase of about 7% from the 8,428 vehicles it made in 2023.
Rivian's revenue of $1.32 billion for the quarter beat Wall Street estimates, but its net loss per share of $1.36 was worse than expected, according to a survey of analysts by LSEG, formerly known as Refinitiv. The company also announced on Wednesday that it will cut 10% of its workforce.
“Our business is not immune to current economic and geopolitical uncertainties, most notably the impact of historically high interest rates, which have negatively impacted demand,” RJ Scaringe, Rivian's CEO, said on Wednesday's earnings call.
Lucid reported lower-than-expected revenue of $157.2 million for the quarter, and its net loss of 30 cents per share was in line with estimates, according to analysts surveyed by LSEG.
Lucid CEO Peter Rawlinson said the macroeconomic environment and rising interest rates had also impacted the company. He said the company had to learn how to operate in new locations, such as Saudi Arabia, with different market dynamics.
Although companies have invested billions of dollars in electric vehicles, sales have grown more slowly than expected. Electric vehicles accounted for 6.9% of sales before December, or approximately 976,560 units, an increase of 1.7 percentage points compared to total sales in 2022.
Rivian and Lucid make up a small portion of electric vehicle sales compared to industry leader Tesla. A Cox Automotive analysis found that Rivian accounted for just over 4% of electric vehicle sales in 2023, while Lucid accounted for 0.5%. Tesla controlled about 55% of the market.
Rivian shares are down about 40% in the past year and are down 85% from their IPO price of $78 per share in November 2021. Lucid stock are down about 70% in the past year and are down more than 75% from their IPO price of $14 per share in October 2021.
Rivian and Lucid weren't the only electric vehicle producers Wall Street was watching Thursday.
Electric truck manufacturer Nicola It reported worse-than-expected revenue and a slightly better-than-expected loss per share in its earnings on Thursday. The stock traded almost flat on Thursday, losing nearly all of its value since hitting an all-time high of $93.99 in June 2020.
CNBC's Michael Weiland contributed to this report.
