Interest rates and the anticipation of big news from Tesla played roles in Lucid stock’s moves Wednesday.
Lucid (LCID -4.60%) stock lost ground in Wednesday’s trading. The company’s share price closed out the daily session down 4.6% and had been down as much as 5.4% earlier in the day.
Lucid stock fell in today’s daily trading as investors weighed the possibility that the Federal Reserve will adopt a slower-than-anticipated pace for interest rate cuts. The market was also feeling jittery about electric vehicle (EV) stocks ahead of the Q3 report that Tesla published after the market closed.
Lucid stock slips on Fed interest rate concerns
With the 50 basis-point rate cut that it issued in September, the Fed finally delivered the pivot to rate-lashing that the market had long yearned for. The central banking authority had previously instituted a rapid ramping of rates in order to combat inflation, and last month’s pivot to more dovish policy has helped power significant gains for the broader market.
Growth-dependent and otherwise speculative stocks in particular have seen pronounced bullish valuation momentum on the heels of the policy shift. Lucid stock has actually fallen significantly over the last month due to the company’s announcement of a new share offering and wider-than-anticipated Q3 losses, but the company’s valuation has likely still seen buttressing effects thanks to expectations that the Fed will continue to slash rates at a relatively quick pace. With the market lending more weight to the possibility that subsequent rate cuts may underwhelm, the EV specialist’s stock felt bearish pressure today.
What does Tesla’s Q3 report mean for Lucid?
EV investors and industry watchers were on edge ahead of Tesla’s Q3 report today. Big news for the EV leader often has spillover effects for the valuations of other players in the industry; CEO Elon Musk’s company saw its share price close out the daily session down 2%.
But Tesla delivered better-than expected earnings results after the bell, and its share price is up roughly 11% in after-hours trading as of this writing. Meanwhile, Lucid stock is up roughly 1.6%.
Tesla posted non-GAAP (adjusted) earnings per share of $0.72. Meanwhile, the average analyst estimate as polled by FactSet had called for per-share earnings of $0.59. Revenue of $25.18 billion fell short of the average analyst estimate for sales of $25.47 billion, but guidance for slight growth in vehicle deliveries for the year was a positive surprise amid expectations that deliveries would be down.
While Tesla’s delivery news shouldn’t be taken as a major bellwether for Lucid’s future performance, its delivery numbers are often looked to as an indicator for demand trends in the EV space.
Keith Noonan has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.