Lucid's new platform allows shareholders to submit and upvote questions for senior management ahead of the EV maker's Q4 2021 earnings call next week.
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Lucid gave investors the date for its highly-anticipated Q4 2021 earnings call last week, simultaneously announcing that it would be hosting a platform allowing shareholders to submit questions for management in the run up to the presentation. The platform went live at 2:30 pm PT yesterday, with 2240 questions asked by roughly 7,500 participants as of writing today. Handily, the site tells us that these participants represent a total of 1.54 million shares, and most if not all of the questions are posed by retail investors.
How The Platform Works
Lucid partnered with Say Technologies to better connect with its shareholders, with each submitted question showing the number of upvotes received as well as the number of shares represented by the voters. As mentioned above, the platform shows whether the person asking each question is an institutional or retail investor, and tells us that CEO Peter Rawlinson and CFO Sherry House are the leaders from from Lucid who "may address questions during Q4 2021 Earnings." Less than 24 hours after opening the platform is already well on its way to 10,000 participants.
Many of the questions deal with the future of Lucid 1, 3, 5, and 10 years down the line. Here's a selection of the highest-voted questions:
"What are the next plans for the company?" - 3,300 Votes representing 540,000 LCID Shares (this is currently the top question on the platform)
"Do you have any strategies in mind [to] compete with Tesla?" - 2,900 Votes/461,000 LCID Shares
"Where do you see Lucid in 10 years?" - 2,600 Votes/475,000 LCID Shares
Other shareholders took the opportunity to inquire about Lucid's current state of affairs:
"How are we approaching the chip shortage?" - 1,400 Votes/345,000 LCID Shares
"When will Lucid production pick up?" - 1,300 Votes/333,000 LCID Shares
Kenneth K doesn't mince words:
"Instead of us all wondering and analysts speculating could we get some solid numbers on how many vehicles have been delivered to date? And are production numbers still on pace to meet expectations that had been discussed in previous meetings? Thank you." - 944 Votes/269,000 LCID Shares
Other upvoted questions ask about upcoming models, the planned Saudi Arabian manufacturing facility, whether there'll be an economy Lucid, and if the brand will license its record-breaking powertrain technology to other manufacturers.
No stockholder gathering would be complete without some wild speculation:
"When is the sale to Apple going through?"
Edit: It seems submissions are being actively moderated, as that question has since disappeared. Wild speculation indeed, or was that individual onto something huge?
Some of the questions, such as "Does the company own any proprietary technology?" may be better directed to a one-second Google search than a busy EV company executive. It takes all sorts, as my grandmother would say.
The platform is a smart move for Lucid, allowing the people backing the company to have their voices heard while management can pick and choose questions it can spin into positive outlooks. Rawlinson may not choose to answer "What do you guys think about Nikola?" or "Do you think the stock will go below $20?" but the event will hopefully give shareholders a voice within Lucid's operations that they haven't had up to now. Lucid's Q4 2021 earnings call takes place at 2:30 pm PT/5:30 pm ET on February 28th, and we'll have full coverage here for you at Torque News.
Images by Lucid Motors licensed by CC BY 2.0.
James Walker is an automotive journalist at Torque News focusing on Lucid Motors. If it's got wheels he's interested, and he's looking forward to seeing what kind of cars the EV revolution brings us. Whether it's fast, slow, new, or old, James wants to have a look around it and share it in print and on video, ideally with some twisty roads involved. You can connect with James on Twitter, Instagram, and LinkedIn.
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