Stock Market Today, July 15: Lucid Spikes 29% After Dismissing Bankruptcy and Take-Private Rumors

Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID), a luxury electric vehicle design and manufacturing company, closed at $5.95, up 28.79%. The stock moved after Lucid rejected bankruptcy and take-private rumors. Investors will be watching the company’s liquidity closely over the coming quarters. Trading volume reached 55.6M shares, coming in about 169% above its three-month average of 20.7M shares. Lucid Group IPO'd in 2020 and has fallen 94% since going public.

How the markets moved today

The S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) rose 0.36% to 7,571, and the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) gained 0.62% to 26,269. In luxury electric vehicle design, manufacturing, and technology, Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA) closed at $394.46, down 0.43%, while Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) finished at $17.80, up 1.71%, offering a mixed read on EV sentiment.

What this means for investors

One day after EV maker Lucid saw its shares briefly cut in half amid bankruptcy and take-private rumors, the company’s shares rallied 28% to finish higher than they were just two days ago. Lucid’s CEO Silvio Napolia responded to yesterday’s rumors, stating:

Lucid is not considering bankruptcy or a transaction to take the company private. Those reports are false. The Board did not explore either scenario… Lucid has sufficient liquidity to fund its operations well into next year.

While the abrupt turnaround in the stock’s price might seem like the market agrees, it could also be a classic case of a “dead cat bounce,” where short-sellers covered their positions following yesterday’s dramatic decline.

Regardless of which narrative is right, Lucid still has plenty of work ahead to rein in its cash burn and avoid potential debt problems down the road.

Josh Kohn-Lindquist has positions in Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.