Shares of electric vehicle maker Rivian were down in pre-market trading after a 2.3% decline in the previous session, as the company issued a surprising forecast for a drop in electric vehicle deliveries this year.
For the fourth quarter, Rivian reported revenue of $1.73bn, exceeding the consensus estimate of $1.39bn. The company also posted an adjusted loss of $0.46 per share, a significant improvement over the anticipated loss of $0.65 per share.
It also reported a gross profit of $170m in the fourth quarter, driven by improvements in variable costs, revenue per delivered unit, and fixed costs. “This quarter we achieved positive gross profit and removed $31,000 in automotive cost of goods sold per vehicle delivered in Q4 2024 relative to Q4 2023,” said CEO RJ Scaringe in a statement.
Scaringe also noted Rivian’s focus on cost efficiency is crucial for the launch of its mass-market R2 vehicle. “The R2 bill of materials is approximately 95% sourced and is expected to be approximately half that of the improved R1 bill of materials,” he added, signalling Rivian’s ongoing efforts to optimise production costs.
Despite these positive results, Rivian’s delivery forecast for the year fell short of Wall Street expectations. The EV maker revised its annual delivery guidance to between 46,000 and 51,000 vehicles, below the 55,520 units predicted by analysts. This represents a slight decrease from last year, when the company delivered 51,579 units.
Rivian attributed its cautious delivery guidance to ongoing policy uncertainty, particularly the potential impact of the Trump administration. “I think they’re appropriately being just cautious because it’s unclear and they have no control over what’s going to happen politically here,” said Vitaly Golomb, managing partner at Mavka Capital, a Rivian investor.
