Rivian Automotive beat Wall Street’s fourth-quarter earnings expectations and achieved its first gross quarterly profit — a target closely watched by investors — but is forecasting lower sales in 2025.
The electric vehicle maker reported a gross profit, which includes production and sales but does not factor in other expenses, of $170 million during the final quarter of last year. Rivian said it plans to achieve another “modest gross profit” in 2025. It has not said when it expects to be profitable on a bottom-line basis.
For 2025, Rivian also expects to narrow its adjusted losses to a range of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion, down from a loss of $2.69 billion in 2024. The company forecast deliveries of 46,000 units to 51,000 units for 2025, compared with 51,579 vehicles delivered last year.
Shares of Rivian were up about 7% during after-hours trading Thursday before leveling off during the company’s quarterly earnings call. The stock closed at $13.61 a share, down 2.3%.
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told CNBC that there is “a lot of uncertainty” surrounding the automotive industry, specifically the potential removal of federal incentives for EVs and tariff policies that could affect the company.
Shares of Rivian, Tesla and Lucid in 2025.
“We believe external factors could impact our 2025 expectations, including changes to government policies and regulations, and a challenging demand environment. While uncertainties persist, we remain focused on executing against our key value drivers and are confident in electrifying the world in the long term,” Rivian said Thursday in a shareholder letter.
For its 2025 guidance, Rivian Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough said the company took into account “hundreds of millions” of dollars in expected hits to its EBITDA as a result of less sales due to an expected removal of tax credits.
Rivian said it expects capital expenditures this year to be between $1.6 billion and $1.7 billion, up from $1.41 billion last year as it prepares to launch its new “R2” midsize vehicles in 2026. The company said it expects to idle its sole auto plant in Normal, Illinois, during the second half of the year to retool for the new vehicles.
“We believe R2 will be truly transformative for our growth and profitability,” McDonough told investors during the earnings call.
Here’s how the company performed in the fourth quarter, compared with average estimates compiled by LSEG:
- Loss per share: 46 cents vs. a loss of 65 cents expected
- Revenue: $1.73 billion vs. $1.4 billion expected
Beginning this quarterly report, Rivian is breaking out its “Automotive” and “Software and Services” units for additional transparency for investors. The automaker has plans to continue to grow its software business, including a new joint venture with German automaker Volkswagen.
Rivian’s quarterly gross profit and revenue were helped by $299 million from the sale of regulatory credits, as well as $214 million in software and services revenue. Rivian sells regulatory credits to other automakers to help them meet emissions standards, however future sales could be affected by changes to such regulations by the Trump administration.
The company’s net loss for the fourth quarter was $743 million, or 70 cents per share, compared to a loss of $1.52 billion, or $1.58 per share, during the same period a year earlier.
For the full year, Rivian lost $4.75 billion, or $4.69 per share.
Rivian’s 2024 revenue was $4.97 billion, up roughly 12% from $4.43 billion in 2023. Fourth-quarter revenue was up more than 31% from the prior-year period.
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