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The Rivian R1S should start shipping to customers in just a few months.
Courtesy of Rivian
Electric truck maker Rivian Automotive reported a wider-than-expected quarterly loss, but more importantly maintained its full-year production estimates. Stocks wobbled as investors digested the news.
Rivian (ticker: RIVN ) reported an adjusted loss per share of about $1.62 on $364 million in second-quarter sales. Wall Street was looking for a loss of about $1.61 a share on about $336 million in sales.
The company spent approximately $1.6 billion in cash. This, however, was a little better than expected. Analysts had expected the company to spend about $1.8 billion in cash.
The numbers, frankly, seem about right. Rivian shares fell about 4% just after the results were released. They came off those lows and were down 0.9% in premarket trading on Friday. The stock had a strong session on Thursday to close at $38.95, up more than 4%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average ended the day little changed.
Investors didn’t seem too disheartened by the results. After the drop, shares rebounded to $39.79 in after-hours trading. Shares settled at $38.60 on Friday.
Investors can expect more volatility in Friday’s trading. Options markets implied that the stock would move about 12%, up or down, after the results were released. Shares rose 18% after the company reported first-quarter numbers.
More important than even earnings at this point in a company’s life is delivery orientation. Rivian still plans to deliver about 25,000 vehicles throughout the year. That leaves roughly 19,300 to ship to customers in the last six months of the year.
Achieving this goal will require overcoming supply chain challenges, such as semiconductor shortages, that have plagued the entire auto industry.
“As we continue to manage supply chain constraints, we are encouraged by the progress we are making, which is important for us to be able to add a second shift for the AGM later this quarter,” said the Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe. the company’s earnings conference call.
A second shift means higher production rates. The launch of electric trucks produced 4,401 vehicles in the second quarter, compared to 2,553 produced in the first quarter.
“Equally important is the continued strong demand for our products,” added the CEO. As of June 30, Rivian had about 98,000 orders for its R1T and R1S electric vehicles. This is an increase from the 90,000 orders at the beginning of May.
Deliveries during the first half of 2022 amounted to around 5,700 vehicles.
In Thursday trading, the stock is down about 62% this year, while the S&P 500 and Dow are down about 12% and 8%, respectively.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com