Rivian’s Q1 2024 Financial Results Are A Mix Of Good And Bad

Rivian has said its decision to pause construction work at its new Georgia facility in Covington will position the company positively in the future, with production of the new R2 crossover taking place at the Normal plant from the first half of 2026. Not only is this earlier than planned, but Rivian added during its Q1 earnings call that this will help the company save $2.25 billion. Furthermore, the risks associated with introducing the new vehicle have also been reduced.

In the first quarter, Rivian produced 13,980 examples of the R1T and R1S and delivered 13,588 vehicles to customers. This represents increases of 48% and 71%, respectively, compared to the same period last year. As a result, revenue has increased to just over $1.2 billion, compared to $661 million in Q1 2023.

It’s Not All Good News, Though

Rivian’s total operating losses for the first quarter totaled $1.484 billion, which isn’t good, but CEO RJ Scaringe is convinced the automaker will turn things around throughout 2024. “First-quarter results exceeded our outlook and set a strong foundation for the remainder of the year as we focus on continued demand generation, delivering cost and plant efficiency improvements, advancing R2 development, and driving towards profitability.”

Getting back to the R2, the compact crossover will go into production at the Normal facility where the R1T, R1S, and electric commercial vehicles are currently built. Once the automaker has completed the necessary revisions to accommodate the newcomer, the automaker expects annual capacity to increase to 215,000 units. The R2 will make up 155,000 of these vehicles. This means the more expensive R1T and R1S, as well as the RCV and EDV, will account for 60,000 vehicles combined.

What’s On The Horizon?

Rivian expects to produce 57,000 vehicles in 2024 and $2.7 billion in adjusted EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization), which is more conservative than analysts expected. “We believe it is being cautious. We also think there is some uncertainty regarding its sales looking out until later this year, so it is possible that sales can’t support a higher production total,” explained Garrett Nelson, senior equity analyst at CFRA Research, to Reuters.

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Despite this, CEO RJ Scaringe remains positive, highlighting all the milestones the automaker has achieved in the last quarter. Aside from unveiling the R2 – and the even smaller R3 and R3X crossovers – Rivian also produced its 100,000th vehicle at its Normal plant and has started the retooling upgrade at the facility. The automaker recently received an $827 million incentive package that will allow it to upgrade the Illinois factory, in preparation for R2 production.