EV maker Rivian reported its first-quarter earnings on Tuesday and lowered its full-year vehicle delivery guidance. The company now expects to deliver between 40,000 and 46,000 vehicles in 2025, down from its earlier forecast of 46,000 to 51,000.
As of Wednesday morning, several Wall Street analysts reacted to the results. Needham lowered the price target on Rivian to $16 (from $17), Mizuho raised it to $11 (from $10), while Wedbush cut it to $18 from $20.
Bank of America (BofA) maintained the $10 target on the EV stock.
In a new research note released, BofA’s analyst John Murphy noted that despite noting that total revenue (including the sales of regulatory credits) and gross profit were above the bank’s expectations, the analyst remains bearish on the stock.
Rivian’s automotive revenue dropped by 31% in the first quarter when excluding the $157 million generated by selling automotive regulatory credits.
“Gross margin was 17%, better than BofA estimates of -8%,” the analyst remarked, adding that was “largely due to higher regulatory credits ($157 million) and higher Software and Services revenue ($318 million).”
BofA reiterated its Underperform rating on Rivian stock and the $10 price target, implying a downside of 25.9%, based on Tuesday’s closing price of $13.50.
The analyst pointed out that adjusted EBITDA came in at $0.30 billion, falling short of the bank’s estimate of $0.50 billion and the Wall Street consensus of $0.55 billion.
Rivian‘s revenue came in at $1.24 billion, above BofA’s forecast of $0.97 billion.
CEO RJ Scaringe stated on the earnings call that “total software and services revenue” came “primarily due to new vehicle electrical architecture and software development services, remarketing sales and repair and maintenance services.”
The U.S. company unveiled a new software update on Tuesday, available for both generations of its R1S and R1T models, highlighting “smarter driver profiles” and resolved issues on its infotainment system regarding streaming apps.
Murphy stated that “Software and Services revenue includes the recognition of payments from VW to fund the JV,” adding that “these payments and performance obligations recognized were $167 million in the first quarter.”
This is part of the ‘Rivian and VW Group Technology‘, a joint venture between the two companies, where Volkswagen agreed to invest $5.8 billion in the EV maker as Rivian provides the German automaker with next-generation EV architecture and software.
On Tuesday’s earnings call, Scaringe stated that the company “has now met the gross profit milestone with Volkswagen Group and expects to receive $1 billion in funding at the end of June.”
Claire McDonough, Rivian‘s chief financial officer, stated that the $1 billion investment is “included within the $3.5 billion of incremental capital expected from the Volkswagen Group.”
The CFO noted that that VW is “expected to invest $1 billion in Rivian common shares at a 33% premium to our stock price based on the volume weighted average stock price from May 15 to June 27, 2025.”
Rivian said on Tuesday it plans to host an AI and Autonomy Day later this year. Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said the firm expects “to gain further insights into RIVN’s autonomous path with the goal of improving driver assistance capabilities utilizing real-world fleet data and expanding availability to all second-generation R1 owners.”
Wedbush cited “new tariff challenges on the horizon for Rivian (along with the rest of the US auto industry)” as the main reason for the price target cut to $18.
The company expects capital expenditures of between $1.8-1.9 billion, up from the previous target of between $1.6-1.7 billion.
Rivian delivered 8,640 vehicles in the first quarter, down from 14,183 in the prior quarter and 36% lower than the 13,588 units delivered a year ago. The company produced 14,611 vehicles during the quarter, marking a 15% increase from the 12,727 units built in Q4.
As of the time of writing, Rivian shares are trading 1.5% lower at $13.30
