Rivian (RIVN) Q3 2022 earnings: Production expands 67% while reaffirming 25K target
Rivian (RIVN) released its third-quarter earnings results Wednesday after stock market close as the EV maker battles rising costs while it scales production. According to Rivian’s latest filing, the automaker missed Wall Street revenue expectations in Q3 but reaffirmed its 25,000 production goal for 2022.
Rivian Q3 2022 earnings preview
Yesterday, we released a preview of what you can expect from Rivian’s Q3 2022 earnings, including a few important updates announced during Q3.
Rivian already announced it had produced 7,363 electric vehicles at its Illinois plant and delivered 6,584 during the third quarter, which ended September 30, 2022.
The EV maker has stuck to its year-end guidance so far of producing 25,000 EVs this year despite ongoing supply chain hurdles. In the second quarter, Rivian’s backlog grew to about 98,000, with a rising average preorder rate.
In addition, Amazon confirmed it would be rolling out 1,000 Rivian EDVs for the upcoming holiday season, a portion of its 100,000 order agreement. Although the Amazon backing will help over the next few years, one of the primary things to look out for as Rivian scales production will be the cost of production.
Wall Street is looking for Rivian to post around $550 million in revenue and a quarterly loss of $1.80 per share.
Rivian Q3 2022 financial results and analysis
Rivian posted revenue of $536 million in the third quarter of 2022, missing Wall Street estimates of around $550 million.
Although revenue is important, the focus will likely be on operating costs and how the company is managing debt while Rivian builds its production capabilities.
That being said, Rivian generated a negative gross profit of -$917 million in the third quarter. Rivian notes:
As we produce vehicles at low volumes on production lines designed for higher volumes, we have and will continue to experience negative gross profit related to labor, depreciation, and overhead costs.
Rivian’s operating costs in Q3 2022 grew to $857 million, up from $694 million in the same quarter last year. Interestingly, the increase is primarily due to an increase in stock-based compensation expenses.
Overall, Rivian posted a net loss of over $1.7 billion compared to a loss of $776 million a year ago. The wider loss is because of higher input costs associated with building manufacturing capabilities.
Rivian ended the quarter with a sufficient $13.8 billion in cash despite a significant cash burn of over $1.6 billion in Q3.
Additional updates from Rivian’s third quarter earnings
Rivian’s backlog swelled to over 114,000 from 98,000 in Q2, confirming the demand for its EVs is still there. These are in addition to the 100,000 order from Amazon.
According to Rivian’s shareholder release, the company is affirming its 25,000 production guidance for 2022. In addition, Rivian still expects an adjusted EBITDA of -$5.4 billion.
The automaker continues working with Georgia, expecting to launch its R2 platform in 2026.
Rivian’s (RIVN) stock is up slightly in after-hours trading after falling over 70% so far in 2022.
With a rapidly changing macroeconomic environment (rising interest rates, inflation, etc.), introducing new electric vehicle platforms and ramping production (with high fixed costs) is a challenge. Rivian is navigating this environment so far, but widening losses and higher input costs are still concerning.
Losses stacking up is inevitable as Rivian scales production, but as production and delivery levels continue to climb, the company should start to see higher margins. Rivian says:
We expect the in-transit time from rail shipments coupled with an increase in volumes from the ramp of our second shift towards the end of the quarter will cause a larger discrepancy between production and deliveries
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Tesla has started to offer discounted financing on Cybertruck as the electric pickup truck undoubtedly turns out to be a flop.
Tesla claimed over 1 million reservations for the Cybertruck, and CEO Elon Musk said he could see Tesla producing 500,000 units per year.
However, that was before Tesla announced that the production version would be much more expensive and have a shorter range than what was initially announced.
The Cybertruck has now been in production for a year and a half, and it looks like Tesla would be lucky to sell about 10% of Musk’s goal of 500,000 units.
The automaker doesn’t report Cybertruck sales, but it is estimated that Tesla delivered roughly 40,000 Cybertrucks in 2024, and it is expected to have even more issues selling the truck this year.
Tesla has taken several steps to help sales.
We reported that Tesla launched Cybertruck leases to help move vehicles. The company is even still tucked with “Foundations Series” Cybertrucks, and we found out that Tesla buffed “Foundations Series” badges out of some trucks to sell them as cheaper regular Cybertrucks.
For the remaining “Foundations Series,” which there still are despite Tesla switching to regular Cybertruck production in October, Tesla has even offered free Supercharging for life.
Now, Tesla is stepping up its game, and it is offering discounted financing on new Cybertruck orders:
Tesla announced 1.99% APR for a limited time:
1.99% APR available for a limited time for well-qualified buyers
WIthout the “promotion”, the rate for excellent credit is 5.84%.
While Tesla is discounting the rates, it is not discounting them as much as for new Model 3 orders.
We reported earlier this week that Tesla offers 0% and 0.99% with $0 down on new Model 3 orders in the US until the end of the quarter.
Electrek’s Take
It is very possible that Tesla can’t sell more than 10,000 Cybertrucks this quarter, which would extrapolate to 40,000 units per year or less than 10% of what Elon said he would see Tesla delivering.
Now, the cheaper single motor Cybertruck should help, but by how much? It could bring Tesla to 20-30% of the volume Elon saw possible?
I think it’s fairly clear that the Cybertruck is a flop.
Tesla launched a single new vehicle in the last 5 years and it is a flop.
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Environment
Toyota launched its cheapest EV in China and it crashed the server starting at just $15,000
Toyota looks to grab a bigger share of the world’s largest EV market as it takes aim at BYD and other low-cost leaders. On Thursday, Toyota launched its cheapest EV in China, the bZ3X, starting at roughly $15,000. The new electric SUV crashed the server with over 10,000 orders in an hour.
Meet Toyota’s cheapest EV in China, the bZ3X
The bz3X is Toyota’s “first 100,000 yuan-level pure electric SUV” in China and its cheapest EV to hit the market so far.
Toyota’s Chinese joint venture, GAC-Toyota officially launched the “Bozhi 3X,” or bZ3X for short, in China on March 6. Shortly after, the company said orders for its new electric SUV were “so popular that the server crashed” after revealing prices start at just over $15,000 (109,800 yuan).
After securing over 10,000 orders in just one hour, Toyota boasted again that “the server is overwhelmed.” The launch comes after blind pre-orders opened in December, starting at just under $14,000 (100,000 yuan).
The bZ3X is available in two versions, with or without its full-scenario smart driving tech. The non-smart tech model starts at 109,800 yuan ($15,000) with five trim options while the smart driving model starts at 149,800 yuan ($20,500).
For 159,800 yuan ($22,000), the range-topping “610 Max” trim provides up to 610 km (379 miles) CLTC range from a 67.92 kWh LFP battery. The base “430 Air” gets up to 430 km (267 miles) from a 50.03 kWh LFP battery pack.
Toyota said the interior provides “a mobile space that is comfortable as home,” with front and rear seats that can fold down to provide nearly 10 feet (3 meters) of space.
Inside, the electric SUV has a 14.6″ infotainment screen with voice recognition and an 8.8″ driver display. It also includes a two-spoke multi-function steering wheel.
Toyota’s new bZ3X is its first vehicle with the Momenta 5.0 Intelligent Driving System. Powered by NVIDIA Drive AGX Orin X, it comes with 25 ADAS features, such as parallel parking, remote control parking, high-speed pilot, light traffic assist, and blind spot monitoring.
GAC-Toyota claimed it will be “one of the first automakers in the world to realize a one-stage end-to-end intelligent driving model.” With human-like intelligence, the vehicle “gets smarter and better with use.”
At 4,600 mm long, 1,875 mm wide, and 1,645 mm tall, Toyota’s cheapest EV in China is about the size of BYD’s Yuan Plus (Atto 3) at 4,455 mm long, 1,875 mm wide, and 1,615 mm tall. Starting at 115,800 yuan ($16,000), Toyota’s new bZ3X slightly undercuts BYD’s electric SUV.
What do you think of Toyota’s new electric SUV? Would you buy one for around $15,000? We’ll keep dreaming.
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