When Uber (NYSE:UBER) announced its expanded robotaxi plan with Lucid Group (NASDAQ:LCID) on April 14, the headline looked like a clear Silicon Valley winner.
With a 35,000 autonomous vehicles deal, a fresh $200 million equity injection, and another $550 million from Saudi Arabia's Ayar, the ride-hailing giant's stake in the EV maker climbed to around 11.5%.
In theory, this deal was supposed to validate Lucid's future as a serious player in autonomous mobility.
In practice, investors treated it like a distress flare.
Shares bled for weeks, eventually hitting a low of $5.61 on May 19 before rebounding.
