Luminar Technologies
posted growth in the second quarter and maintained its full-year and long-term financial forecasts. It was enough for investors initially, but the stock gains evaporated.
Self-driving car technology is making progress. Lidar, the technology in which
Luminar
(ticker: LAZR) is a leader, is essentially laser-based radar that is used to help cars see, enabling driver-assistance features. On Tuesday evening, the company reported a per-share loss of 21 cents for the second quarter from $16.2 million in sales, very close to what Wall Street was looking for.
A year ago, Luminar posted an 18-cent loss from $9.9 million in sales. Sales growth at start-ups typically matters more than earnings, and sales grew 64% year over year.
Shares were up more than 3% in premarket trading Wednesday but traded down as the overall market fell. Luminar stock closed down 6.4% at $6.28, while the
S&P 500
and
Nasdaq Composite
slipped 0.7% and 1.2%, respectively.
Wednesday’s stock dip and a further decline Thursday could also be partly chalked up to profit-taking.
Coming into Wednesday trading, Luminar stock was up about 36% year to date. Solid business execution as well as investors looking to the end of the Federal Reserve’s series of interest-rate increaseshike cycle have boosted shares.
More than growth, sales guidance was responsible for the early bump. Management didn’t change its forecast, which means growth will accelerate. Luminar still expects to increase 2023 sales by “at least 100%” over 2022 and to post a positive adjusted gross profit margin in the fourth quarter. The second-quarter adjusted gross loss was $16.2 million from sales of the same amount.
That guidance implies more than $50 million of sales in the second half of 2023. Wall Street currently projects about $55 million. Sales growth in the second half should come in around 130% year over year, up from roughly 80% in the first half of 2023.
The overall 2023 numbers are just a drop in the bucket relative to Luminar’s ambitions. The company believes it can generate about $5 billion in annual sales by the end of the decade. It bases that on the business it is booking to put Lidar and software on upcoming cars.
“As we realize our long-term vision, Luminar continues to prove that it can execute our ambitious plan across hardware, software/AI, and beyond,” said CEO Austin Russell in a news release, citing progress in the quarter made with
Nissan Motor
(7201.Japan),
Mobileye
(MBLY), and
Polestar Automotive
(PSNY). “This puts us on the path to meet or beat our company-level milestones for the third consecutive year.”
Write to Al Root at [email protected]
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