EV maker Rivian published on Tuesday its first quarter earnings results posting a better than expected revenue and the second consecutive quarter of positive gross profit.
Rivian reported a first-quarter loss of $0.41 per share, beating analysts’ average estimate of a $0.76 loss by $0.35.
Rivian said it secured a previously announced $1 billion investment from Volkswagen Group as part of their newly formed joint venture, Rivian and VW Group Technology, LLC. The funding is expected to be completed by the end of next month.
As previously announced, in the first quarter Rivian produced 14,611 vehicles at its manufacturing facility in Normal, Illinois and delivered 8,640 vehicles. These figures were in line with management’s guidance.
Revenue for the quarter came in at $1.24 billion, above the consensus estimate of $983.65 million. The company reported gross profit of $206 million, marking its second consecutive quarter of positive gross profit.
Rivian‘s vehicle deliveries fell 36% year over year to 8,640 units in the first quarter of the year. Sequentially, the figures also declined from the 13,588 units registered in the final quarter of 2024.
Jefferies analysts said in a research note issued hours before the earnings release that they expected Rivian to report a further deterioration in gross margin, persistently high cash burn, and a sharp year-over-year decline in first-quarter revenue as a result of much lower vehicle deliveries.
The firm said gross margin is expected to return to negative territory at minus 7%, down from the fourth quarter but improved from minus 44% in the same period last year.
Jefferies had forecasted Rivian to report $1.05 billion in revenue for the first quarter, down 13% from a year earlier.
As reported on Monday, the Illinois-headquartered carmaker will receive $16 million in state incentives to help fund a new supplier park adjacent to its manufacturing plant in Normal, state officials said earlier this Monday.
BlackRock, the world’s largest asset manager, raised its stake in Rivian in the first quarter of the year.
The firm added 2,065,057 Rivian shares during the quarter, following a purchase of nearly 3.79 million shares in the final three months of 2024. The latest increase brings its total holding to more than 49 million shares — a level last seen in the second quarter of 2023.
Meanwhile, Rivian’s U.S. sales have continued to decline. The automaker sold an estimated 2,970 vehicles in April, down 25.5% from a year earlier and below the 3,910 units sold in March, according to data from Motor Intelligence published late last week.
