Shares of Lucid Group Inc. LCID rocketed 62.7% in very active afternoon trading, paring an earlier intraday gain of as much as 97.8%, prior to its latest trading halt for volatility. The electric vehicle and battery pack maker’s stock was trading down on the day until just before 11 a.m. Eastern, the gains started accelerating a little after noon, the really took off just before 1 p.m. Trading volume ballooned to 99.5 million shares, already more than triple the full-day average. The stock has been halted nine times for volatility since 12:56 p.m. The company said before the stock market opened that it opened its first retail studio and service center in Montreal. There were also multiple media reports, that cited a Betaville report, that a Saudi Arabia-based investment fund was looking to take Lucid private. A Lucid spokesperson said the company doesn’t comment on rumors or speculation. A company filing with the Securities and Exchange Commission from Dec. 28 showed that the Public Investment Fund (PIF) of Saudi Arabia owned 1.11 billion Lucid shares, or 60.7% of the shares outstanding, which the PIF said was made for “investment purpose.” The stock has more than doubled in January (up 114.4%), but was still down 49.0% over the past 12 months, while the S&P 500 SPX has lost 5.8% the past year.
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