Rivian Might Make The Coolest Looking Trucks… But They Just Can’t “Deliver”

While Rivian might have the coolest trucks you've ever seen, aside from good looks, the EV maker (also known as Tesla's little brother) can’t stay out of its own way.

In their latest attempt to stay relevant, Rivian reported Q3 production numbers that were (how should I put this?) not great. They cranked out 13,157 vehicles, which is a solid 19% drop from last year. But wait, it gets worse: deliveries were only 10,018, down a hefty 36% year-over-year.

Naturally, investors reacted by smashing the sell button. Shares fell over 6% in premarket trading, and that’s on top of the stock already free-falling more than 50% this year. At this rate, Rivian’s stock chart is starting to look more like the side of a mountain than an EV maker on the rise.

If you’re wondering what’s behind Rivian’s latest struggle to put wheels on the road, the company is pointing fingers at (you guessed it) supply chain problems. Turns out, a shared component used in both their R1 trucks and Amazon delivery vans is harder to come by than toilet paper in 2020 (we all remember that right?). This shortage started in Q3 and has been getting worse by the week, according to Rivian. Sounds like they’ve been doing more sitting around and waiting than actually building trucks.

Remember when Rivian said they’d build 57,000 vehicles this year? Yeah, scratch that. They’ve revised their forecast down to somewhere between 47,000 and 49,000 vehicles. That’s not just a little tweak (reminds me when my tad told me we’d go to Disneyland and then ended up taking us to the local water park.) And let’s be honest, investors are feeling pretty let down.

Wall Street analysts had their sights set on Rivian delivering around 56,000 vehicles this year. So when Rivian came out with its revised numbers, you could smell the disappointment in the air. Rivian’s adjusted outlook is more in line with “low single-digit growth,” which in the fast-paced world of EVs, is practically a standstill.

At this rate, you might be able to buy a share of Rivian stock with the loose change in your car (don’t actually try this, it’s still above $9, but you get the idea). Oh, and in case that wasn’t enough to worry about, CEO RJ Scaringe has been offloading shares like there’s some more bad news about to come to light.

Despite all the bad headlines, Rivian says they’re still on track to turn a profit per vehicle by the end of 2024 (because apparently, losing $32,700 per truck wasn’t quite cutting it). And hey, there’s always that Volkswagen partnership to keep the lights on, with a $5 billion investment in the works. So maybe there’s hope for the scrappy little EV maker after all.

Missteps like these, compounded by a supply chain shortage that’s showing no signs of easing up, are exactly why Rivian’s stock remains stuck in neutral instead of exploding like many had hoped.

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Stock.News has positions in Tesla and Disney.