A downgrade is pushing down shares of electric-vehicle start-up
Lucid Group,
but an upgrade from the same broker isn’t helping Lucid peer
Rivian Automotive.
Friday, Exane BNP Paribas analyst James Picariello downgraded Lucid stock (ticker: LCID) to Sell from Hold. His price target went to $5 from $6.50. He also upgraded shares of Rivian stock (RIVN) to Buy from Hold, and raised his target price to $30 from $24.
Exane declined to send Barron’s a copy of the report.
Lucid stock is taking a hit, down 3% in midday trading at $6.58 a share. Rivian stock is also down, 1.3% in the red a $21.62, while the
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
are off 0.3% and 0.7%, respectively.
Piccariello’s views appear to align with the rest of the Street. Only 31% of analysts covering Lucid stock have Buy ratings. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. A downgrade to Sell from Hold doesn’t change the Buy-rating ratio. It changes the Sell-rating ratio, though. About 23% of analysts covering Lucid stock rate shares at Sell. The average Sell-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 6%. The average analyst target price is about $775 a share, up about 18% from recent trading levels.
About 58% of the analysts covering Rivian stock have Buy ratings. The average analyst target price is about $27.50 a share, roughly 25% higher than recent levels.
Recent production and delivery performance could be reasons for the ratings changes.
Lucid delivered 1,404 vehicles in the second quarter of 2023, down from 1,406 deliveries in the first quarter. The company plans to make 10,000 units in 2023.
Rivian delivered 12,640 vehicles in the second quarter, up from 7,946 in the first quarter. The company plans to make more than 50,000 units in 2023.
Despite those differences, Lucid and Rivian are worth roughly the same amounts. Lucid’s market value, measured by stock capitalization, debt less cash on hand, is about $12 billion. Rivian’s is $13 billion.
At Picariello’s prices, Rivian would be worth roughly $18 billion and Lucid about $9 billion.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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