Rivian has made its all-electric commercial van available for sale to the general public after years of it being only available to Amazon.com.
Late Wednesday, the EV startup officially made the Rivian commercial van available with a starting price of $79,900 with deliveries slated to begin in April 2025. There are two variants, a 500 series and a 700 series, with both getting around 160 miles of range.
Rivian signed an agreement with Amazon in 2019 to design and develop electric commercial delivery vans and has prioritized production for Amazon since then. The online marketplace ordered 100,000 of Rivian's electric vans and said in December 2024 it has 20,000 Rivian electric vans in its delivery fleet.
Amazon currently has a 15.6% stake in Rivian, according to FactSet. However, Amazon is also looking elsewhere to electrify its fleet.
However, Rivian in November 2023 amended its agreement with Amazon to allow the EV startup to sell commercial vans to any other commercial customers. At the end of the third-quarter, Rivian said it expected Amazon to increase its delivery order of vans in Q4 and announced it had launched the Rivian Commercial Van platform for the commercial market.
Meanwhile, Bernstein on Jan. 28 initiated coverage of Rivian with an underperform rating and a 6.10 price target, 52% below the current trading level.
The firm believes Rivian has built a brand based on adventure and has the resources to scale it, but it faces slower market growth, rising competition and limits to the segments its brand can address.
Bernstein analysts wrote that Rivian can succeed in its plan to reach more than 500,000 units by 2030, but that financial success for shareholders is not a given and that Rivian's breakeven is "years away" and the company is facing "mounting risks."
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Fourth-Quarter Earnings
The EV startup reports fourth-quarter earnings and revenue late on Feb. 20. Analysts expect a loss of 69 cents, down from a $1.36 per share loss a year ago, with sales increasing 6% to $1.39 billion, according to FactSet. However, investors will arguably be more interested in seeing whether the company will hit its targets of positive gross profit per vehicle in Q4.
Rivian lost around $39,130 per vehicle in Q3, up from $32,700 per vehicle in the second quarter. In Q1, Rivian lost more than $38,700 per vehicle delivered.
Rivian has repeatedly stated this as the goal for the year. The company on Nov. 7 said it remained "on track" for positive gross profit per vehicle by the fourth quarter.
In early January, Rivian reported Q4 vehicle deliveries came in above forecasts, hitting its 2024 delivery target number. The EV startup delivered 14,183 vehicles in Q4 and produced 12,727 units at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois. A year ago, Rivian delivered 13,972 vehicles while producing 17,541 units.
For the full year, Rivian produced 49,476 vehicles and delivered 51,579, in line with its goal of 50,500 to 52,000 deliveries. Rivian previously forecast 2024 production of 47,000 to 49,000 units.
The 2024 deliveries represent low single-digit growth compared to 2023 when Rivian produced 57,232 vehicles and delivered 50,122 units.
Rivian also said in early a component shortage the company reported in October is "no longer a constraint" on production.
Rivian Stock
RIVN fell 2.5% to 12.48 during market trade on Friday after adding 0.2% to 12.80 on Thursday.
Rivian stock is in a cup-with-handle base with a traditional 16.65 buy point, the high from Jan. 3, according to MarketSurge analysis. The base dates back to July 2024 and the bulk of it has formed underneath the 200-day moving average and 50-day line. , which can be a warning sign.
RIVN shares have dropped 23% since hitting 16.65 and have found support at the 200-day line. The stock fell 43% in 2024 and is about 83% below its IPO price of $78,
Rivian stock has a 47 Composite Rating out of 99. Additionally, the stock has a 71 Relative Strength Rating and its EPS Rating is 20 out of 99.
Please follow Kit Norton on X @KitNorton for more coverage.
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