Rivian (RIVN) stock gets a boost ahead of R2 launch with new buy rating
EV maker Rivian’s (RIVN) stock is trending Thursday ahead of the highly anticipated launch of its new R2 electric SUV. Rivian stock scored a buy rating from Jefferies Finacial Group, suggesting over 45% upside potential.
Rivian stock scores buy rating ahead of R2 reveal
Rivian will reveal its more affordable R2 electric SUV at 10 am PT (1 pm ET) later today at its swanky new Laguna showroom. The event will be live-streamed, and you can check back here for the full details.
Leading up to its release, Rivian has teased the new electric SUV, showing what appears to be a smaller version of its top-selling R1S.
Rivian’s CEO, RJ Scaringe, vows that the R2 keeps the “essence of the brand” in a smaller, more affordable package. Leaked info earlier this week shows the R2 will start at $47,000 with up to 330 miles range. With the anticipated $7,500 EV tax credit, the R2 starting price could potentially fall below $40,000.
Meanwhile, there’s still plenty to be revealed later today. Ahead of the official R2 debut, Rivian’s stock earned a buy rating from Jefferies with a $16 price target.
With Rivian’s stock currently around $11 per share, the target suggests over 45% upside potential. Rivian shares have slipped over 47% through the first three months of 2024 following. RIVN shares hit an all-time low last month following a double analyst downgrade and plans to trim 10% of its workforce.
A substantial opportunity ahead
Although Rivian’s pace slowed in Q4 with 13,972 vehicles delivered, the EV maker anticipated it. CFO Claire McDonough said Rivian expected “a more significant gap between production and deliveries in Q4.” This was due to Amazon limiting intake during the holiday season.
Rivian reported a gross loss of $606 million in the fourth quarter, an improvement from the $1 billion loss last year. However, it was still up from (-$477 million) in Q3 and (-$412 million) in Q4.
| Q3 ’22 | Q4 ’22 | Q1 ’23 | Q2 ’23 | Q3 ’23 | Q4 ’23 | |
| Rivian loss per vehicle | $139,277 | $124,162 | $67,329 | $32,594 | $30,500 | $43,372 |
Gross margins also slipped to (-46%), equaling out to a $43,372 loss on every vehicle delivered between October and December.
Although that’s still a significant loss, it’s a substantial improvement from the over $124,000 loss per vehicle in Q4 2022.
Rivian will introduce new engineering and supplier upgrades during the planned shutdown at its Normal, Illinois EV plant in Q2 that will “meaningfully reduce” material costs exiting 2024. The EV maker projects a “modest growth profit” by the end of the year.
Due to the upgrades, Rivian expects to deliver around 57,000 vehicles this year, about the same as last year.
Rivian believes the “opportunity ahead is substantial” as it expands the brand. Check back later today for all the details of Rivian’s new R2.
Electrek’s Take
Although there are concerns about Rivian’s dwindling cash reserve, McDonough said the company remains “confident that our cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments can fund our operations through 2025.”
Over the long term, Rivian sees a clear path to its projected 25% gross margin target and roughly 10% free cash flow margin target.
Rivian has already established itself as an authentic luxury EV brand. The R2 will help it expand into new markets, even Europe and potentially others. A quick skim through online forums shows Rivian already has fans overseas.
The smaller electric SUV will be built at Rivian’s new $5 billion GA EV facility. Rivian’s second EV manufacturing plant is expected to begin production in 2026.
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EQORE, a distributed battery storage startup based in Somerville, Massachusetts, has raised $1.7 million in seed funding to help industrial buildings tackle rising electricity costs. The round was oversubscribed and includes backing from the Massachusetts Clean Energy Center (MassCEC), Henry Ford III of Ford Motor Company, and Jonathan Kraft of The Kraft Group.
The timing couldn’t be more relevant. Data centers are booming, and that demand is slamming an already stressed grid. Big, utility-scale batteries help at the grid level, but they can’t fix the bottlenecks happening on local distribution networks. That’s where onsite storage steps in — storing energy when demand is low and discharging it when demand spikes, which helps stabilize costs for both the grid and the businesses using it.
MassCEC’s head of investments, Susan Stewart, said, “What excites us the most about EQORE’s technology is the dual impact: grid support and customer savings.” She noted that commercial and industrial buildings are ideal hosts for battery storage, but haven’t gotten much attention until now. “EQORE is closing that gap.”
Investor Randolph Mann highlighted what makes the company stand out: “By uniting advanced controls with high‑resolution metering and true end‑to‑end service, EQORE finally makes commercial behind-the-meter storage effortless and financially compelling for businesses.”
EQORE comes out of MIT’s Sandbox program and delta v accelerator and is currently part of the Harvard Climate Entrepreneurs Circle incubator. CEO and cofounder Valeriia Tyshchenko, a third‑generation engineer from Ukraine and MIT graduate, said the new funding will help the company scale alongside its existing revenue.
With the seed round closed, EQORE plans to grow its team and ramp up battery deployments at energy-intensive manufacturing facilities. The company doesn’t just install batteries; it operates them. Its autonomous software shifts when a facility uses power based on market conditions and utility incentives, reshaping load in real-time without disrupting operations.
Read more: Battery boom: 5.6 GW of US energy storage added in Q2
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![Check out Hyundai's cool new off-road electric SUV concept [Images]](https://i0.wp.com/electrek.co/wp-content/uploads/sites/3/2025/11/Hyundai-off-road-SUV.jpeg?resize=1200,628&quality=82&strip=all&ssl=1)
Hyundai took the sheets of its new off-road electric SUV, the Crater Concept, at the LA Auto Show. Here’s our first look at the compact off-roader.
Meet Hyundai’s new off-road SUV, the Crater Concept
We knew it was coming after Hyundai teased the off-road SUV earlier this week, hidden under a drape. Hyundai took the sheets off the Crater Concept at the LA Auto Show on Thursday, giving us our first real look at the rugged off-roader.
Hyundai refers to it as a compact off-road SUV that’s inspired by extreme events. The concept was brought to life at the Hyundai America Technical Center in Irvine, California.
The off-road SUV draws design elements from Hyundai’s Extra Rugged Terrain (XRT) models, such as the IONIQ 5 XRT, Santa Cruz XRT, and the new Pallisade XRT Pro.
Although it’s a concept, Hyundai said the Crater Concept is a testament to its commitment to designing future XRT vehicles that are more functional, more capable, and more emotional.
“CRATER began with a question: ‘What does freedom look like?’ This vehicle stands as our answer,” Hyundai’s global design boss, SangYup Lee said.
The off-road SUV features Hyundai’s new Art of Steel design theme, first showcased on the THREE concept at the Munich Motor Show in September.
Hyundai said the design team was guided by one clear goal: To create a rugged and capable vehicle that’s designed to go anywhere. The Crater Concept embodies that vision with added wide skid plates, 33″ off-road tires, limb risers, rocker panels, and a roof platform.
Hyundai designed the interior for “tech-savvy adventure seekers,” with a singular design centered around a high-brow crash pad that stretches across the dashboard.
The concept also swaps the traditional infotainment setup for a head-up display that spans the entire front window, which Hyundai said includes a live rearview camera.
Hyundai’s off-roader includes a new Off-Road Controller for front and rear locking differentials, as well as a terrain selector with modes including Sand, Snow, and Mud. Other off-road features include downhill brake control, trailer brake control, a compass, and an altimeter.
Although Hyundai said it was electric, it didn’t reveal any further details about the powertrain. The off-road SUV could be a battery-electric or fuel-cell-electric vehicle.
Like the new Nexo, Hyundai’s hydrogen fuel cell vehicle, the concept features “HTWO” lamps exclusive to its FCEVs.
Earlier this week, the design team at Hyundai Design North America also introduced its new design and ideation studio codenamed “The Sandbox.” The creative design studio is set to serve as a global hub for future XRT vehicles and gear.
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OpenAI is partnering with Taiwan’s Foxconn, the world’s largest contract electronics manufacturer, to design and build artificial intelligence data center components in the U.S., the AI startup’s latest announcement tied to its massive infrastructure development plans.
While no financial terms were disclosed, OpenAI said in Thursday’s announcement that it will have early access to evaluate the systems Foxconn produces, and the option to purchase them. The companies said the goal is to accelerate the deployment of infrastructure while securing long-term U.S. capacity.
Under the agreement, OpenAI and Foxconn will co-develop multiple generations of AI servers in parallel, while manufacturing core components like power, networking, and cooling systems at Foxconn’s U.S. facilities. The company’s website says it has factories in Wisconsin, Ohio, Texas, Virginia and Indiana.
“This partnership is a step toward ensuring the core technologies of the AI era are built here,” OpenAI CEO Sam Altman said in a statement, calling AI infrastructure a “generational opportunity to reindustrialize America.”
OpenAI has been on a dealmaking blitz of late with many of the world’s largest technology companies, and has announced spending commitments of roughly $1.4 trillion, raising concerns about whether the startup will ever generate enough profit to justify those investments. Altman said earlier this month that the company will hit $20 billion in annualized revenue by the end of this year and hundreds of billions by 2030.
Prior deals include a $100 billion announced — but unfinalized — agreement with Nvidia for the chipmaker to invest in OpenAI in phases as the company builds out infrastructure. OpenAI also has cloud partnerships with Microsoft, Google and Amazon and hefty compute buildout commitments with Oracle.
Foxconn adds a manufacturing layer, further localizing OpenAI’s supply chain and potentially speeding the pace of deployment. The company is best known for assembling Apple’s iPhones but has expanded into AI and automotive manufacturing. It builds server racks tailored for AI workloads and is a key global supplier to Nvidia, the dominant player in high-end AI chips.
“Foxconn is uniquely positioned to support OpenAI’s mission with trusted, scalable infrastructure,” said Chairman Young Liu.
But the company has a checkered history in the U.S. In 2018, Foxconn broke ground on what was supposed to be a massive factory in Wisconsin for making flat-panel displays. That project was a failure, and is now the site of an AI data center being built by Microsoft.
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