Tesla Bull Sees Rivian As “One Of The Core EV Players Over The Next Decade

Wedbush analyst Dan Ives says Rivian took "another big step in the right direction" with its second-quarter results.

Rivian R1S Production In Normal, Illinois

Iulian Dnistran

By: Iulian Dnistran

Aug 11, 2023 at 4:07am ET

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Longtime Tesla bull and Wedbush analyst Dan Ives sees California-based EV maker Rivian as “one of the core EV players over the next decade,” according to Investor’s Business Daily.

Speaking about the American company’s positive second-quarter financial results, Ives added that the maker of the R1T pickup, R1S SUV, and Amazon Electric Delivery Van (EDV) took “another big step in the right direction,” referring to the 50 percent gross margin improvement, company-wide cost reductions, and production ramp-up.

After posting its Q2 results, Rivian bumped its production guidance to 52,000 units for this year, up by 2,000 units from the previous estimate and more than double compared to last year, when it manufactured 24,337 vehicles.

"Demand looks strong for Rivian and visibility (is) improving into 2024," Ives said. The EV startup which has a manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois built 13,992 vehicles and delivered 12,640 units, topping analysts’ estimates that said deliveries would top out at around 11,000 units in Q2.

In the recently released report, Rivian noted that the R1S SUV made up approximately 70 percent of the total production in the previous quarter, making it the first-ever quarter in which the R1T pickup truck was one-upped by the SUV in the manufacturing game.

Gallery: 2022 Rivian R1S First Drive

White Rivian R1S charging on Rivian Waypoint charger

Rivian R1S in Compass Yellow side view Rivian R1S in Compass Yellow downhill Rivian R1S on Canyon Red side view Rivian R1S off road Rivian R1S First Drive Rivian R1S in Canyon Red

Speaking about demand and pricing strategy, Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said on a separate occasion that the brand is comfortable with the positioning of its products, meaning that price cuts are unlikely to be seen anytime soon, a strategy that was employed by many players in the EV game, including Tesla and Ford.

"We take a very methodical and thoughtful approach to how we look at our vehicle pricing,” said Scaringe. “As we think about the positioning of the product, the capabilities of the product – on-road, off-road, dynamically – and the feature set that's in the vehicles, we feel quite comfortable with the positioning of what we've done."

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According to its Q2 financial report, the Californian EV startup posted a $1.2 billion net loss, ending the quarter with $10.2 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments.

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