Rivian tops Wall Street’s second-quarter expectations amid cost cuts

Rivian Automotive beat Wall Street’s top- and bottom-line expectations for the second quarter as the electric vehicle maker continues to take costs out of its business.

Here is how the company did, compared to estimates from analysts polled by LSEG:

• Earnings per share: Loss of $1.13 adjusted vs. loss of $1.21 expected
• Automotive revenue: $1.16 billion vs. $1.14 billion expected

The company’s adjusted net losses widened during the second quarter to $1.46 billion, or a loss of $1.46 per share, compared with a year earlier of $1.2 billion, or a loss of $1.27 per share.

Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization, or EBITDA was about level from the same period as a year ago at a loss of $860 million.

Rivian on Tuesday reaffirmed its 2024 guidance of 57,000 total units of production, a loss of $2.7 billion in adjusted EBITDA and $1.2 billion in capital expenditures.

Through the first six months of the year Rivian produced about 23,600 vehicles, including only 9,162 during the second quarter due to downtime at the company’s plant to retool and reduce costs.

The second-quarter results come more than a month after Rivian held an investor day that focused on cost-cutting efforts, efficiency gains and in-house technologies and software. The event came days after Rivian announced plans for Volkswagen to invest up to $5 billion in the EV startup, starting with an initial investment of $1 billion.

Shares of Rivian are off 37% this year amid slower-than-expected demand for EVs as well as Rivian’s significant cash burn. The stock closed Tuesday at $14.80, up 1.3%.

Rivian, which is still losing thousands of dollars for every vehicle it makes, has been focused on reducing costs. Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in June that efficiencies earlier this year in products and manufacturing are expected to lead to 20% material cost reductions in its current vehicles, followed by 45% targeted reductions in its upcoming “R2” vehicles, which are projected to begin production in early 2026.

Rivian’s expenditures through the first half of the year were $537 million, including $283 million during the second quarter.

Rivian ended the second quarter with $9.18 billion in total liquidity, including $7.87 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.