EV Company Rivian’s Stock Down 61%

By Douglas A. McIntyre Published May 1, 6:55AM EDT

Follow 24/7 Wall St. on Google

This post may contain links from our sponsors and affiliates, and Flywheel Publishing may receive compensation for actions taken through them.

EV Company Rivian’s Stock Down 61% — © solarseven / iStock via Getty Images

While Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA | TSLA Price Prediction) stock experienced a downturn this year, the situation for smaller electric vehicle (EV) maker Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN) was even more challenging. Unlike Tesla, which saw a recovery in its shares, Rivian’s stock continued to drop, reaching a staggering 61% decline. The company’s sales, which are relatively modest, coupled with the industry’s overarching issues, have created a bleak outlook for a rebound. Furthermore, the company’s market cap of $9 billion appears disproportionately high given its current prospects.

Rivian delivered 13,588 vehicles in the first quarter ended March 31, compared to analysts’ forecast of 12,500. However, shortly after that, it fired workers at its Georgia plant. According to Business Insider, this was the company’s fourth layoff in the past several years.

In 2023, Rivian produced 57,232 vehicles and delivered 50,122, double the production and deliveries from 2022. Those numbers barely mattered. The company lost $5.4 billion, compared to a $6.8 billion loss in 2022. Rivian is bleeding cash.

Rivian cannot dodge the sea change in the industry. People are increasingly turning their backs on EVs. They worry about the number of charging stations, the range of vehicles, and their prices. Rivian’s flagship R1T has a base price of $69,000. Its R1S has a base price of $74,900. The median price for a new car in the United States is between $40,000 and $45,000. (Check out the five best EVs to drive forever.)

Rivian will be one of the losers in the EV industry. Along with the trouble in the industry, it is up against Tesla and every large car manufacturer in the world.

∴

About the Author Douglas A. McIntyre →

Douglas A. McIntyre is the co-founder, chief executive officer and editor in chief of 24/7 Wall St. and 24/7 Tempo. He has held these jobs since 2006.

McIntyre has written thousands of articles for 24/7 Wall St. He is an expert on corporate finance, the automotive industry, media companies and international finance. He has edited articles on national demographics, sports, personal income and travel.

His work has been quoted or mentioned in The New York Times, The Wall Street Journal, Los Angeles Times, The Washington Post, NBC News, Time, The New Yorker, HuffPost USA Today, Business Insider, Yahoo, AOL, MarketWatch, The Atlantic, Bloomberg, New York Post, Chicago Tribune, Forbes, The Guardian and many other major publications. McIntyre has been a guest on CNBC, the BBC and television and radio stations across the country.

A magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College, McIntyre also was president of The Harvard Advocate. Founded in 1866, the Advocate is the oldest college publication in the United States.

TheStreet.com, Comps.com and Edgar Online are some of the public companies for which McIntyre served on the board of directors. He was a Vicinity Corporation board member when the company was sold to Microsoft in 2002. He served on the audit committees of some of these companies.

McIntyre has been the CEO of FutureSource, a provider of trading terminals and news to commodities and futures traders. He was president of Switchboard, the online phone directory company. He served as chairman and CEO of On2 Technologies, the video compression company that provided video compression software for Adobe’s Flash. Google bought On2 in 2009.