Why Ford, Tesla, and Lucid All Soared Today
What happened
Ford (NYSE: F) reported September sales in its monthly update today, a day after Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) shared its full third-quarter production and delivery report. While investors showed some disappointment with what Tesla said yesterday, the bulls are taking over today and pushing many electric vehicle (EV) maker stocks higher.
As of 2:22 p.m. ET, shares of Ford, Tesla, and EV start-up Lucid Group (NASDAQ: LCID) were higher by 6.8%, 1.8%, and 8.9%, respectively. Tesla shares, it should be noted, were up more than 6% before news related to CEO Elon Musk's bid for Twitter broke today.
So what
Ford reported today that its EV sales nearly tripled year over year in September. The company also said its total share of the EV segment has reached 7%. We should also note that this comes as Ford's overall sales in September dropped nearly 9% year over year. Investors now seem to be evaluating Ford less as a blue chip company and more for its chances to succeed in the EV space against Tesla.
Now what
Tesla's third-quarter deliveries fell short of expectations, but it wasn't because of a production problem. Though it was a 42% year-over-year increase, Tesla disappointed investors with deliveries of just under 344,000 in the third quarter. But importantly, it produced an additional 22,000 units that just hadn't shipped yet.
Some investors took that as a sign of slowing demand. But there is no reason to doubt the company's explanation that it was because of increasing difficulty with shipping logistics due to its rapidly increasing volumes. After all, those vehicles were built with orders in hand and will be delivered this quarter.
Ford's EV news today seems to have confirmed that demand continues to grow. Even sales of Ford's hybrid offerings have increased 22.6% year to date over the prior-year period. That has helped investors grow confidence that the data out of a start-up like Lucid will also be positive once it's released.
Lucid is focusing on the high-end market with its electric Air sedans, which start at more than $87,000 just for the base model. Investors have knocked its stock down 60% this year so far after it reduced its production estimates multiple times. But there might be a sense that the supply chain disruptions that have led to those reductions are starting to ease. Rivian Automotive is another early-stage EV manufacturer that cut its volume projections earlier this year, and it just announced today that production is growing and on track to meet its latest estimates.
Lucid hasn't updated the public with its quarterly numbers yet, so investor sentiment could change. But after Ford, Rivian, and Tesla's growth in production implied steadily growing demand for EVs, Lucid's gains should also hold if it shows progress in its ability to ramp production up.
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Howard Smith has positions in Lucid Group, Inc. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla and Twitter. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
