Rivian Automotive Shares of the company (NASDAQ:) fell more than 5% in premarket trading Wednesday after the electric vehicle (EV) maker reported worse-than-expected earnings for the first quarter of fiscal 2024.
More specifically, Rivian reported an adjusted loss per share of $1.24 for the first quarter, beating the expected loss per share of $1.15. However, the company’s quarterly revenue reached $1.2 billion, beating the consensus estimate of $1.15 billion.
The automaker reported adjusted EBITDA of -$798 million for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of -$824 million.
Rivian said it produced 13,980 vehicles and delivered 13,588 in the first quarter.
“Our first quarter results exceeded our expectations and set a strong foundation for the remainder of the year as we focus on continued demand generation, improving cost and plant efficiency, advancing R2 development and moving toward profitability,” R.J. Scaringe, Rivian founder and CEO said.
“We achieved several milestones this quarter, including normal production of our 100,000th vehicle, successful redesign and the introduction of our new mid-size platform that underpins the R2, R3 and R3X.”
Looking ahead, the company reaffirmed its calendar year 2024 production target of 57,000 vehicles and maintained adjusted EBITDA guidance at -$2.7 billion.
It also revised down its capital expenditure forecast to $1.2 billion from the previous $1.75 billion due to cost cuts related to the R2 platform.
The automaker expects low-single-digit growth in deliveries of the R1 and EDV platforms compared to 2023 and expects operating expenses to decline for the full year compared to last year.
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Meanwhile, production of the R2 is expected to begin in the first half of 2026 at the Normal, Illinois plant.
“We believe the company’s comments on the recent positive demand response Rivian has seen, as evidenced by a 91% increase in demo rides compared to the prior quarter, will be received relatively well by investors, especially given the weaker EV market overall.” , – Goldman Sachs analysts commented.
“The extent to which this can be sustained without significant price cuts and allow Rivian to meet its low-single-digit shipment growth forecasts for the year is likely to be a key question going forward,” they added.
Rivian said it is confident of strong gross profit growth in the second half of the year and reiterated its expectations of achieving positive gross profit in the fourth quarter, “which we believe will be a key positive for the stock,” Stifel analysts said.
“The company continues to make progress in optimizing operating expenses and expects operating expenses in 2H24 to be materially lower than in 1H24, allowing RIVN to begin 2025 with a more efficient cost base structure,” they added, although they believe the latest version and the forecast will be neutral. for the promotion.