Rivian reports a narrower-than-expected quarterly loss, reaffirms EV production target

Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive on Tuesday reported a first-quarter loss that was narrower than expected and said it’s still on track to meet a 50,000-vehicle production target for 2023.

Shares were up about 4% in after-hours trading following the news.

Here’s how the company did as per consensus analyst estimates by Refinitiv:

• Loss per share: $1.25 adjusted vs. $1.59 expected.
• Revenue: $661 million vs. $652.1 million expected.

Rivian’s net loss narrowed to $1.35 billion, or $1.45 per share, from $1.59 billion, or $1.77 per share, during the year-earlier period.

Total revenue soared year over year from $95 million, according to the company.

The EV maker had $11.8 billion in cash remaining as of March 31, down from $12.1 billion at the end of 2022. Capital expenditures for the first quarter were $283 million, versus $418 million in the year-ago period.

Rivian has been working to reduce its spending over the last several months in a bid to conserve cash. The company said on Feb. 1 that it would cut 6% of its workforce, or about 900 employees.

“Our core priorities for 2023 are unchanged,” CEO RJ Scaringe said in an earnings release Tuesday. “The team remains focused on ramping production, driving cost reductions, developing the [upcoming smaller] R2 platform and future technologies and delivering an outstanding end-to-end customer experience.”

Rivian said on April 3 that it built 9,395 EVs in the first quarter and delivered 7,946 vehicles to customers. Both numbers were down from the fourth quarter, a result of planned factory downtime as the company upgraded assembly lines to incorporate its new made-in-house “Enduro” electric motors and lower-cost lithium iron phosphate battery packs.

Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough stressed that the new motors and batteries are “critical to achieve our long-term target cost structure across current vehicle platforms, as well as R2.”

Rivian’s R2 platform, now in development, will underpin a series of smaller vehicles priced below the R1T pickup’s current $73,000 starting price. It’s currently expected to launch in 2026.

The automaker confirmed that it remains on track to hit its full-year production guidance of 50,000 vehicles, roughly twice the number it made in 2022, with total capital expenditures of about $2 billion for the year.

The company is currently building the R1T pickup, the R1S SUV and a series of electric delivery vans for Amazon at its factory in Normal, Illinois.