Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID), the company behind the Lucid Air electric vehicle, has again become a subject of the fear, uncertainty, and doubt (FUD) narrative that is being propagated by its detractors in light of a new filing by Lucid Group’s CEO, Peter Rawlinson.
— Warren Redlich - Come and Take It - Molon TSLA (@WR4NYGov) March 10, 2022 To wit, Rawlinson filed the requisite Form 4 with the SEC yesterday, disclosing the cumulative disposal of 7,981,919 shares of Lucid Group. However, what many failed to realize is that this liquidation was planned back in July 2021 to fulfill tax liabilities that Rawlinson incurred on the vesting of Restricted Stock Units (RSUs). In fact, we had explained back in December 2021 that the time-based RSUs of Lucid Group’s CEO are scheduled to vest in sixteen quarterly installments beginning on the 5th of December 2021 (source: Form 10-Q, page 28): Consequently, this share disposal is intended to satisfy Rawlinson’s tax liabilities and should not be interpreted as a case of the proverbial captain abandoning his ship. Meanwhile, Lucid Group continues to grapple with supply chain bottlenecks and the attendant production-related problems. In fact, the company cited this issue as a major stimulant behind lowering its 2022 delivery projections from 20,000 units to between 12,000 and 14,000 units. On a more cheerful note, the company recently announced while disclosing its earnings for the fourth quarter of 2021 that the total reservations for the Lucid Air electric vehicle now stand at around 25,000 units, equating to a potential sales volume of over $2.4 billion. This means that the entire 2022 production volume of the company is already sold.
