The end of the earnings season is always a good time to take a step back and see who shined (and who didn’t). Let’s take a look at how automobile manufacturing stocks fared in Q1, starting with Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID).
Much capital investment and technical know-how are needed to manufacture functional, safe, and aesthetically pleasing automobiles for the mass market. Barriers to entry are therefore high, and auto manufacturers with economies of scale can boast strong economic moats. However, this doesn’t insulate them from new entrants, as electric vehicles (EVs) have entered the market and are upending it. This has forced established manufacturers to not only contend with emerging EV-first competitors but also decide how much they want to invest in these disruptive technologies, which will likely cannibalize their legacy offerings.
The 10 automobile manufacturing stocks we track reported a very strong Q1. As a group, revenues beat analysts’ consensus estimates by 0.7%.
Thankfully, share prices of the companies have been resilient as they are up 7.2% on average since the latest earnings results.
Weakest Q1: Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID)
Founded by a former Tesla Vice President, Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) designs, manufactures, and sells luxury electric vehicles with long-range capabilities.
Lucid reported revenues of $282.5 million, up 20.2% year on year. This print fell short of analysts’ expectations by 25.1%. Overall, it was a disappointing quarter for the company with a significant miss of analysts’ revenue and adjusted operating income estimates.
“First quarter results demonstrated the strength of our technology and product portfolio. A supplier issue resolved during the quarter had an impact, but January and March deliveries were ahead of the same periods in the prior year,” said Marc Winterhoff, Interim Chief Executive Officer at Lucid.
Lucid delivered the weakest performance against analyst estimates of the whole group. The market was likely pricing in the results, and the stock is flat since reporting. It currently trades at $6.24.
Is now the time to buy Lucid? Access our full analysis of the earnings results here, it’s free.
Best Q1: Ford (NYSE:F)
Established to make automobiles accessible to a broader segment of the population, Ford (NYSE:F) designs, manufactures, and sells a variety of automobiles, trucks, and electric vehicles.
Ford reported revenues of $43.25 billion, up 6.4% year on year, outperforming analysts’ expectations by 3.7%. The business had an incredible quarter with a beat of analysts’ EPS and EBITDA estimates.
