April 3 (Portal) – Rivian Automotive Inc (RIVN.O) stuck to its full-year guidance on Monday as the electric vehicle maker scrambles to ramp up production in an industry pressured by an uncertain economy and a forecast by Tesla Inc ( TSLA) started price war. O).
Shares in Rivian, of which Amazon.com Inc (AMZN.O) is a backer, fell 2.4% in a broad decline for EV stocks that sent Tesla down 6.3% according to its own manufacturing report.
Rivian manufactured 9,395 vehicles in the first quarter through March, down more than 6% from the previous three months. Deliveries also fell by more than 1% compared to the previous quarter to 7,946 vehicles.
Production was impacted by supply chain issues and a planned shutdown of the company’s commercial production line for most of the quarter to introduce new technologies, including lithium iron phosphate (LFP) battery packs.
“We think the numbers are a huge disappointment,” said Garrett Nelson, an analyst at CFRA Research, who downgraded the stock to “sell” from “sell.”
“The report likely indicates that Rivian continues to burn cash at an alarming rate, falling short of even gross profit, let alone net profit.”
Still, the EV maker reiterated its annual production target of 50,000.
CFO Claire McDonough said in February that Rivian expects much of its production in the second half due to supply shortages and planned downtime in the first quarter.
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The money-losing startup is also embroiled in a price war sparked by Elon Musk’s Tesla, and analysts said it faces competition from Ford Motor Co’s (FN) F150 Lightning, Chevrolet’s (GM.N) Silverado and the GMC Hummer .
“Certainly more competition will work against orders,” said Michael Shlisky, an analyst at DA Davidson.
Tesla posted record quarterly vehicle deliveries on Sunday, but quarter-over-quarter sales growth was modest despite price cuts as increased competition and a gloomy economic outlook weighed.
Reporting by Chavi Mehta in Bengaluru; Additional reporting by Akash Sriram; Edited by Rashmi Aich and Shounak Dasgupta
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