A new CEO and a deal with Uber aren't enough to lift this EV maker's struggling stock

By William Gavin

Electric-vehicle maker Lucid has hired Silvio Napoli, an industry outsider, as its new CEO

Lucid has teamed up with self-driving technology firm Nuro and Uber Technologies to design a designated robotaxi vehicle. Uber has agreed to buy 35,000 vehicles from Lucid.

Lucid shares sank Tuesday after the company announced new investments and a new CEO.

The electric-vehicle maker said it will be led by Silvio Napoli, the former CEO and executive chairman of the Schindler Group, a Switzerland-based manufacturer and service provider focused on elevators and escalators. Marc Winterhoff, Lucid's (LCID) interim CEO, will return to his role as the company's chief operating officer.

"Silvio is a proven global leader with deep experience leading complex, technology-driven organizations through periods of rapid growth and operational scaling," Lucid Board Chairman Turqi Alnowaiser said in a statement.

The company tapped Napoli to lead Lucid 14 months after Peter Rawlinson, the company's former CEO, resigned. Rawlinson, a former Tesla (TSLA) executive who designed the Model S, joined Lucid as chief technology officer in 2016 and was appointed as CEO in 2019. In early 2025, following the launch of the Gravity SUV, Rawlinson said he would transition to become an adviser to Lucid's board.

Napoli will be entitled to a $1.5 million annual base salary, a $1 million payment covering expenses for his relocation to the U.S. and an annual incentive bonus opportunity of 200% of his base salary, according to a filing with regulators.

He'll also be given a long-term incentive grant with a targeted value of $9.5 million in stock-based compensation, as well as a performance-based plan that would award him up to 1 million shares after meeting a series of goals, such as Lucid reaching a $5 billion market capitalization. Napoli will take over as CEO in the coming weeks, Lucid said.

Lucid also released preliminary first-quarter results Tuesday, which show the company expects revenue of between $280 million and $284 million, and a loss from operations of about $1 billion. A year earlier, Lucid reported revenue of $235 million and a loss from operations of $691 million. The company delivered 3,093 vehicles to customers in the March quarter, a slight decline from a year earlier.

Lucid shares fell 4.8% on Tuesday. Over the past 12 months, the stock has dropped 64%. It's currently valued at about $3 billion.

The announcement comes amid concerns from investors about Lucid's ability to stay afloat. The company has yet to turn a profit.

In February, the company said it would lay off 12% of its workforce, which it said would save around $500 million annually.

Lucid said it had $3.16 billion of total liquidity, including cash and credit facilities, at the end of March, down from $4.6 billion at the end of 2025. It also has more than $2 billion in long-term debt.

In a note to investors last month, RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan said he was "most concerned" about the company's liquidity, noting that Lucid is projected to continue burning cash over the next few years. He added that there could be limits on how much Lucid could draw from Uber and Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund. For now, that doesn't appear to be a problem.

Lucid also said on Tuesday that it would raise $300 million through a public offering of common stock and another $750 million in increased investments from partners.

Lucid said Tuesday that Uber Technologies (UBER) also committed to invest another $200 million in the company, raising Uber's total investment to $500 million, and purchase at least 35,000 robotaxis from the carmaker. Lucid, self-driving tech startup Nuro and Uber announced a partnership last year to develop robotaxis for Uber's ride-hail platform. At the time, Uber agreed to buy at least 20,000 vehicles.

Last month, Lucid unveiled a two-seater robotaxi vehicle without a steering wheel or pedals, which drew comparisons to Tesla's similar vehicle, the Cybercab robotaxi. Uber employees can take the vehicles for test rides in California's San Francisco Bay Area, the companies said on Monday.

"Employee test rides add a new layer to the work. They let our teams evaluate the experience more directly-from requesting a ride in the Uber app to pickup, the in-vehicle experience, and dropoff-while continuing to validate the system in real-world conditions," Nuro said in a statement.

Ayar Third Investment, an affiliate of Saudi Arabia's Public Investment Fund, committed $550 million worth of convertible preferred stock, "further strengthening the strategic partnership between the PIF and Lucid," according to Lucid. In addition to the PIF being Lucid's majority shareholder, Lucid opened Saudi Arabia's first-ever car-manufacturing plant, in 2023.

-William Gavin

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04-14-26 2301ET