Lucid (NASDAQ:LCID) stock is in focus after the electric vehicle (EV) company announced that it had appointed Matt Everitt as its new General Counsel. Everitt spent the past 12 years at Mercedes-Benz (OTCMKTS:MBGYY) and last held the role of General Counsel of Mercedes-Benz North America. Before that, he served as the Assistant United States Attorney of the Middle District of Tennessee with a focus on fraud and white collar crimes.
“We are delighted to welcome Matt to Lucid and to California,” said CEO and Chief Technology Officer Peter Rawlinson. “His impressive legal background, deep understanding of the automotive landscape, and strategic mindset make him the ideal choice to lead our legal department as we accelerate growth in the coming years.”
LCID Stock: Lucid Appoints Matt Everitt as General Counsel
At Lucid, Everitt will oversee the company’s legal affairs and provide legal insights to aid Lucid’s plans for growth.
The arrival of Everitt comes after Chief Financial Officer Sherry House announced her resignation in December. House explained that she would like to pursue other opportunities and remained with the company until Dec. 31 in an advisory role. Lucid’s Vice President of Accounting and Principal Accounting Officer Gagan Dhingra stepped up as the interim CFO during Lucid’s search for a permanent replacement.
Meanwhile, LCID stock closed higher by 27% yesterday for unclear reasons. The company didn’t file any material U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings or press releases, further adding to the confusion.
A short squeeze may have been the culprit. As of Jan. 24, there were 256.31 million shares of LCID sold short out of a float of 1.16 billion shares. That equates to a short interest as a percentage of float of 21.97%. Generally, a short interest of 10% is considered high, while a short interest of 20% or greater is considered very high.
Lucid also had a cost to borrow (CTB) fee of 16.22% yesterday, marking the third consecutive day of increases. A rising CTB fee signals rising short seller demand, while a falling fee signals the opposite. At the same time, a high CTB fee could influence short sellers to cover their positions in a bid to escape the high fee.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan did not hold (either directly or indirectly) any positions in the securities mentioned in this article. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
