A Lucid Air with its limited-edition metallic paint-job called “eureka gold” glints, parked outside of the Nasdaq.
The luxury car, a part of EV maker’s Dream lineup, is evocative of the path it took to public markets via blank-check.
Lucid Group Inc.’s debut listing on Monday comes after it completed a reverse-merger with financier Michael Klein’s special purpose acquisition company Churchill Capital Corp. IV. The stock, now trading under the symbol LCID, received a warm reception. Shares rose 5.9 percent to close at $24.25 on Monday.
When the deal was first announced in February, it was the largest proposed SPAC transaction at that time, referred by many in Wall Street as “peak SPAC” and Lucid was even compared with Tesla. Yet, for all of the institutional support the deal appears to have, the company’s fate will depend on the loyalty of shareholders, many of whom are new to investing and trading on apps.
“Retail investors are connected and act in blocks. People talking about Lucid on WallStreetbets, Reddit and Stocktwits will have the power of a massive institutional investor,” said Matt Tuttle, chief of the Greenwich, Conn.-based namesake shop that issues thematic and actively-managed exchange traded funds, or ETFs.
Having a base of novice investors who might have picked up their shares on platforms such as Robinhood proved to be a teachable moment last week when the Churchill SPAC struggled to secure enough shareholders to meet a voting deadline.
Last week’s struggles were not on display on Monday. Instead the company was offering free rides on its Dream car parked in front of the Nasdaq near Times Square today and tomorrow.