What happened
Shares of Churchill Capital IV (CCIV) enjoyed a strong rally this week, gaining as much as 18% week to date by Thursday morning. Churchill Capital IV is the special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) that is taking Lucid Motors public. As of 2 p.m. EDT on Thursday, the stock was up 9% for the week.
So what
Investor sentiment around electric vehicle (EV) stocks has been weak in recent months, much like it has for other speculative growth companies. Investors appear to be warming back up to EV stocks, as many other companies in the sector have also climbed this week. Ahead of the launch of the Lucid Air sedan, the company has been ramping up its media appearances to raise awareness of the flagship vehicle and potentially contribute to new reservations.
Image source: Lucid Motors.
For example, business-focused website Inc. published an article last weekend that called the Air the car that Tesla CEO Elon Musk "should be most worried about" after tech columnist Jason Aten took a test ride. Lucid also took Yahoo! Finance reporter Pras Subramanian on a ride. In a follow-up interview with that outlet, CEO Peter Rawlinson confirmed that reservation growth is accelerating as the company opens more retail locations to showcase the Air, while framing the technological competition with EV leader Tesla as a "two-horse race." Lucid currently has over 10,000 total reservations.
Now what
Last week, Churchill Capital IV announced the SEC had declared its registration statement Form S-4 to be effective, with the SPAC scheduling the special meeting of shareholders for July 22. Investors will vote on the proposed merger at the meeting, and the transaction will close the following day if shareholders collectively give their blessing.
The SEC has declared effective the S-4 Registration Statement for the Churchill Capital Corp IV and Lucid merger, with a 7/22 $CCIV stockholder meeting. Anticipated closing is 7/23, expecting to trade under $LCID on @Nasdaq. pic.twitter.com/g91PVUi58n
— Lucid Motors (@LucidMotors) June 25, 2021
Lucid had initially expected the deal to close in the second quarter but recently delayed it into the third quarter. Once the transaction closes, Lucid will receive an estimated $4.5 billion in cash to use for its future growth plans. The company is preparing to start delivering Air cars in the second half of the year.
