Rivian Crippled by New Layoffs

Rivian / Wikimedia Commons

Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ: RIVN) has been crippled for years, and the battered electric vehicle (EV) industry has made this worse. The company will lay off 600 people, according to a Wall Street Journal report. The move is intended to preserve precious cash as U.S. EV sales go into hibernation.

“These are not changes that were made lightly,” Rivian Chief Executive Officer R.J. Scaringe said in an email to staff. No amount of lipstick can make the move something other than it is. Rivian’s future is at stake, and Wall Street continues to punish it because of stiff competition and low sales. Rivian has not been able to make the case that it can get more than a tiny share of the U.S. EV market.

Rivian's current unit production and vehicle deliveries are alarmingly low. Additionally, the time it will take to launch its relatively inexpensive vehicle means the company could barely be alive by the time the brand-new R2 SUV rolls off the assembly line. Its price contrasts with Rivian’s earlier formula of extremely premium pricing for what it has marketed as extremely premium vehicles.

The new R2 SUV will have a price point of about $45,000. The R1T pickup and R1S SUV it currently produces can cost as much as $90,000 when several features are added.

Rivian’s stock price is down 2% this year, compared to a 15% increase for the broader market. However, over the long term, Rivian’s stock price shows that its prospects have fallen apart year after year. It is down 90% over the past five years. It should go lower. Inexplicably, it has a market cap of $15 billion. Ford’s is $49 billion.

In the third quarter, Rivian produced 10,720 vehicles and delivered 13,201. It lowered expectations for 2025 deliveries to a range of 41,500 to 43,500.

Rivian will not release earnings until next month. In the second quarter, its revenue was $1.3 billion, up from $1.2 billion in the same period the year before. It lost $1.1 billion, down from $1.5 billion a year ago.

After a rush to buy EVs in the third quarter due to the expiration of the $7,500 tax credit, a collapse of U.S. EV sales is likely. It is one more factor pulling Rivian under.

Rivian Stock Price Prediction and Forecast 2025–2030

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