Rivian (RIVN) seen as “one of the core EV players over the next decade,” says analyst
EV maker Rivian (RIVN) is seen as “one of the core EV players over the next decade,” according to Wedbush Analyst Dan Ives.
Rivian shattered analyst expectations in the second quarter, delivering 12,640 vehicles (analysts were forecasting around 11K), up 50% from the previous quarter.
While production continues climbing, with nearly 14K EVs built during the period, Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe highlighted the company’s improving profitability and capital efficiency.
As Rivian builds more vehicles, the company is enhancing its ability to optimize plant overhead and manufacturing operations. By adding in-house components like its new Enduro drive trains and LFP battery packs, Rivian is reducing the costs of each vehicle produced.
For example, Rivian’s gross profit per vehicle improved by $35,000 in Q2 compared to the first quarter. Rivian’s gross loss per vehicle is now (-$32,595) compared to (-$67,329) in Q1 and (-$157,000) last year.
Due to the improvements in Q2, Rivian raised its annual production guidance by 2,000, with a new goal of building 52,000 vehicles by the end of the year, more than doubling from last year (24,337).
Will Rivian be a core EV player over the next decade?
The improvements were enough for Wedbush Analyst Dan Ives, known for his Tesla coverage, to say he sees Rivian as “one of the core EV players over the next decade.”
Ives said (via Investors Business Daily) that the EV maker took “another step in the right direction” after releasing second-quarter results this week. He added that “demand looks strong” and “visibility is improving into 2024.”
After Rivian topped delivery and production estimates in July, the analyst raised his price target from $25 to $30 per share.
In a separate interview with Bloomberg TV, CEO RJ Scaringe, said, “The focus of the business is incredibly dialed in on driving up production and driving down cost,” adding, “We have a very clear line of sight” to profitability.
Scaringe said he doesn’t see the need to raise capital before the end of 2025, despite several big projects coming up. For example, Rivian is opening a new $5B facility in Georgia, where it will build its R2 products.
Following a three-month rally, Rivian stock is down 16%. Although share prices are still up 25% in 2023, Rivian’s stock is still down 87% from its all-time highs set shortly after going public in November 2021.
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Stories we discuss in this episode (with links)
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Microsoft signs deal with Swedish partner to remove 3.3 million metric tons of carbon dioxide
WattEV has just opened the first electric truck charging depot in the US to use the new Megawatt Charge System, capable of delivering up to 1.2 megawatts of power, currently the highest-speed charger available in the US, along with solar and battery backup on-site and a unique partially grid-islanded setup.
WattEV says that its charge depot in Bakersfield, CA, includes the first MCS charger in North America, and the fastest as well. Tesla has a number of its own 750kW chargers deployed “behind-the-fence” in Pepsi and Tesla facilities, but this 1.2MW charger beats those in speed and is also publicly available.
MCS is a new charge standard being worked on by charging standards organization CharIN. The standard is close to being finished, though currently there aren’t really available MCS-capable trucks, or even UL-certified charging units.
As a result, WattEV’s installation is somewhat of an experiment. The site has 50 total chargers, split between 32 grid-tied 360kW CCS chargers on one side, and 3 1.2MW MCS and 15 240kW CCS chargers on the other side, attached to backup batteries and solar and fully grid-islanded.
That latter part is particularly interesting – WattEV got grants from the California Energy Commission to create this grid-islanded setup, wherein power for the chargers is fully provided by 5MW of on-site solar (which WattEV wants to expand to 25MW eventually) and 3MWh of battery backup.
WattEV could connect the setup to the grid, but between its grant from CEC, the lack of UL-certified MCS chargers, and delays that would have been caused in the permitting and interconnection process, it decided that grid-islanding half of the site would be the right decision for the time being.
The inclusion of an MCS charger promises the ability to fill a truck in the same time as a traditional truck rest stop. While trucks don’t currently have 1.2MW charging capability, WattEV wanted to be ready for when they do.
Notably, something many operators bring up is that they’re waiting for chargers before they start building or buying trucks. Here, however, we have an infrastructure provider out in the lead – building infrastructure before trucks are being built or purchased. In a world where operators have gotten used to using infrastructure as an excuse, WattEV seems uninterested in allowing them to continue to use that excuse.
Like WattEV’s other chargers, this one will be publicly available either via membership or scanning a credit card/QR code at the site. It’s near an industrial park in Bakersfield with several distribution centers and near the 99 freeway, which services the California central valley. WattEV also offers a “truck-as-a-service” model, wherein the company offers electric trucking at a set price with lower startup costs.
The charger could be of use for those distribution centers, bringing goods in from the Ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, and also for traffic in the valley, as there are many local farming facilities and produce delivery services (for example, OK Produce in Fresno, which has committed to full zero emission operations).
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