Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com
One hour before the closing bell, Rivian shares are trading 10% higher at $40.64 — 21.4% above its lowest levels hit during Tuesday session. The EV sector is having considerable gains leaded by the Chinese manufacturers after the financial stability meeting between the Chinese Vice Premier Liu He and U.S. granting that regulat0rs from both nations are “progressing toward a cooperation” — as reported by a Chinese state media. In addition, some easing of macroeconomic and supply chain fears has also contributed for the gains.
Earlier this week, Rivian announced the hiring of Frank Klein as Chief Operations Officer, effective June 1st, 2022. Frank most recently held the position of President at Austria-based automotive contract manufacturer Magna Steyr, a subsidiary of Canadian-based Magna International. He will be based in Normal, IL, and will report directly to Rivian’s Chief Executive Officer, RJ Scaringe. Klein succeeds Rod Copes, who retired from the position last year.
During his time at Magna Steyr, Frank oversaw the company’s shift to the electric mobility manufacturing space, including the production of the first electric vehicle made by a contract manufacturer.
Rivian announced its plans to locate its second U.S. manufacturing facility in Georgia late last year, as well as its plans to scale capacity at its existing plant in Normal, Illinois.
Recently, the company reported Q4 and Full Year 2021 Earnings missing Wall Street’s expectations. The company lowered its production guidance for 2022 and expects now to deliver 25,000 vehicles (down from 40,000). After being down 6.35% during the trading session, the stock dropped nearly 13% After-Hours to $35.93 per share — a new All Time Low for the stock.
“In the immediate term, we are not immune to the supply chain issues that have challenged the entire industry. Those issues, which we believe will continue through at least 2022, have added a layer of complexity to our production ramp-up” — Rivian stated. Read the full statement here.
As of March 8th, Rivian has 83,000 R1 net preorders in the U.S. and Canada and 100,000 EDV units reserved from Amazon and counts 11,500+ employees.
The company has been facing a number of challenges, from production ramp-up to orders cancelled after increasing its prices by 17% and 20%. Last week, Rivian announced that has raised the price of its R1T pickup by 17% and R1S SUV by about 20%. Increases in the cost of raw materials, inflationary pressure and the already known chip shortage issue are the reasons for this price increase.
Written by Cláudio Afonso | info@claudio-afonso.com