Rivian Cars It cut its earnings forecast for this year after missing Wall Street expectations for the third quarter, including a big loss in revenue.
Here's how the company performed this quarter, compared to average estimates compiled by LSEG:
Loss per share: 99 cents adjusted vs. expected loss of 92 cents Revenue: $874 million vs. $990 million expected
Rivian said it now expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization to range between a loss of $2.83 billion and a loss of $2.88 billion. This compares to previous guidance of a loss of about $2.7 billion.
But Rivian on Thursday reaffirmed its plans to achieve “modest positive gross profit” during the fourth quarter of this year, which Wall Street is closely watching.
“Our primary focus is driving toward profitability,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told CNBC's Phil LeBeau on Thursday. “Looking at the fourth quarter, we continue to trend toward gross margin.”
The company reported negative gross earnings of $392 million for the third quarter compared to a loss of $477 million a year earlier.
Shares of electric car companies Rivian, Lucid, and Tesla in 2024.
Rivian shares were up nearly 2% during after-hours trading Thursday after initially falling. The stock closed Thursday at $10.05, up 3.5%.
RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan said a company maintaining its gross profit target should benefit the stock: “Several analysts we spoke to in print believe the company may pull back that target. On that basis, we could see the stock trading higher.” . In an investor note on Thursday.
The automaker's year-over-year net loss narrowed to $1.1 billion from $1.37 billion during the third quarter of 2023. Its revenue, including $8 million from regulatory credit sales, fell 34.6% from a year ago amid supplier unrest that affected On the company's production. .
“This has been a tough quarter for us,” Scaringe told investors Thursday about the supplier issues. “We see this as a short-term issue.”
Last month, Rivian cut its annual production forecast from 57,000 units to between 47,000 and 49,000 units due to the disruption. It reaffirmed this range on Thursday.
The supplier disruptions occurred as the automaker attempted to launch its second-generation “R1” vehicles. Redesigns for the 2025 model year included major changes to the car's interior.
Separately from its third-quarter results, Rivian on Thursday announced an “important strategic partnership” with LG Energy Solution to supply U.S.-manufactured battery cells for the company's upcoming R2 vehicles in 2026.
