Rivian slides as year-end EV deliveries fall short

Rivian Automotive Inc. fell the most in almost three months as the maker of electric trucks and SUVS reported quarterly deliveries that missed expectations.

The company built 17,541 EVS in the final three months of 2023 and delivered 13,972, according to a statement Tuesday. The fourth-quarter delivery total marked a sequential decline from the prior period and fell short of analysts’ average estimate of 14,114.

Shares of Rivian fell 11% as of 3:06 p.m. in New York, the biggest intraday decline since Oct. 5. The stock rose 27% last year.

The delivery shortfall underscored the challenges facing the automaker, particularly in a year of lingering supply-chain issues and slowing growth in the EV market. Irvine, California-based Rivian builds two EVS for consumers — a pickup and a sport utility vehicle — and a battery-electric delivery van for Amazon.com Inc., its single biggest shareholder.

The quarterly figures “signal overproduction on weakening EV demand as it ramps up plant capacity,” Bloomberg Intelligence analysts said in a note. Rivian is now unlikely to reach cash-flow breakeven until 2026, they said.

The manufacturer doesn’t break out production or delivery numbers by model. However, executives guided on the company’s third-quarter earnings call that the commercial EVS could account for a shortfall because Amazon limits the number of new vans it takes in busy holiday quarters.

“We expect a more significant gap between production and deliveries in Q4 relative to prior periods,” Claire Mcdonough, Rivian’s chief financial officer, said in November.

Given the seasonal impact of Amazon deliveries, Truist Securities Analyst Jordan Levy cautioned investors against reading too heavily into the “mild” quarterly miss. Cantor Fitzgerald analyst

Andres Sheppard told clients in a note that Rivian will now aggressively pursue new sales after Amazon unwound an exclusivity agreement in November.

All of Rivian’s production is handled out of a single facility in Illinois. A second plant is planned for Georgia, with production slated to start on future models in 2026.

For all of 2023, Rivian produced 57,232 units across all three model lines, exceeding guidance for 54,000, which Rivian updated in November. The company delivered 50,122 vehicles.

Rivian didn’t provide production or delivery guidance for 2024.