Lucid announced $1.4 billion in identified cost cut as H1 2026 losses widened 50% to $2.4 billion from $1.6 billion a year earlier. H1 production was 10,274 vehicles against a full-year target of 25,000–27,000. Shares fell 9% after the announcement.
The second half now needs to roughly double the first, and $1.4 billion in cuts does not close a $2.4 billion gap on its own, production is the real test here, not the balance sheet.
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Three fifty-nine of five ninety
BlackRock's report puts Saudi Arabia at 359 of the 590 private-capital funds closed in the Middle East since 2015, or about 61%, against 143 in the UAE and 88 across other regional markets. Middle East sovereign wealth funds allocate 43.2% of assets to private capital against 35% for peers elsewhere, regional venture capital averaged $2.4 billion of deal value a year between 2021 and 2025 with a peak of $3.5 billion in 2022, and the GCC is entering an estimated $2.1 trillion investment cycle through 2030.
Holding 359 of 590 regional funds is not just a fundraising advantage; it is a gravitational force. Managers must now be in Riyadh to participate in the market.
School fees hit the card data
Point-of-sale spending fell 2.8% to SR14.19 billion ($3.79 billion) in the week ended 15 August across 249.68 million transactions, down 1.5%, while education transactions jumped 62.7% week on week to SR446.08 million. Food and beverages led at SR2.2 billion, down 3.7%, and Riyadh accounted for SR4.84 billion across 79.80 million transactions.
The 62.7% increase in education spending, despite a 2.8% overall decline, reflects a calendar effect rather than increased consumer confidence. Households shifted funds rather than increasing total spending.
Saudi took 62% of MENA
MENA startups raised $172.6 million across 45 deals in July, up 16% month on month. Saudi Arabia took $106.6 million across 16 deals, 62% of the regional total. The UAE raised $46.6 million, also across 16 deals, followed by Syria at $10.6 million, Egypt $7.25 million and Morocco $2 million. Saudi Arabia and the UAE together accounted for roughly 89% of all capital raised. Notable rounds: RIME's $2 million seed led by Seedra Ventures, a strategic investment into MOZN from Humain, and an "A-" rating assigned to Tamara by Simah.
Saudi's 62% resulted from larger investments on the same number of deals in a regional pool of only $172.6 million, the move is to compete for strategic capital, not to chase a VC market this small.
