© Reuters Luminar Technologies (LAZR) shares slide despite new wins
By Sam Boughedda
Lluminar Technologies (NASDAQ:) announced Wednesday that its production deals signed in the fourth quarter exceeded targets.
The company said in its release after the close that it experienced more commercial momentum at the end of 2022 than expected, with “additional production wins for multiple consumer vehicle models with leading automakers.”
Despite the positive news, Luminar shares fell more than 5% in Thursday’s session, adding to its decline over the last year, which has seen it fall 75% in the last 12 months.
Luminar revealed that its commercial success exceeded its goal of 60% year-over-year growth in total program wins and beat its target of 60% year-over-year forward-looking order book growth, labeling them major milestones.
“2022 marked an inflection point for Luminar, as the first of its kind to move from R&D to production vehicles,” commented Austin Russell, Founder and CEO of Luminar. “Our big bet on production of consumer vehicles and enhancing, not replacing, the driver is starting to pay off big time. I expect Luminar to make a sweeping impact in 2023 as the automotive industry continues to converge with our roadmap.”
Following the announcement, Deutsche Bank analysts said in a note to clients that while Luminar had already announced hitting hardware production series on its 3Q22 call, the company showcased the beta version of its Sentinel software at the event.
“Importantly, the company announced that it exceeded its 60% growth target for the commercial program wins as well as its 60% y/y growth target for forward looking order book,” said the analysts. “While the exact details of the new wins from Q4 were not yet shared, we believe they support the company’s plan to bring on new automated lines expected to drive capacity up to 250k units per year by 2H23.”