Rivian, Lucid Shares Fall. It’s Not Only Affordability. It’s Cash Flow.

It’s the car stock version of demolition derby on the Thursday before Christmas. The carnage indicates three things: Investors are deeply worried about the economy in 2023, investor are worried about electric vehicle demand and when times get tough, investors love cash flow.

Shares of electric vehicle start-ups


Rivian Automotive


(RIVN) and


Lucid


(LCID) are off 7.2% and 4.8% in late Thursday trading, respectively. The


S&P 500


and


Dow Jones Industrial Average


is down 1.9% and 1.5%, respectively.