Tesla Motors closed lower Friday after electric-vehicle peer Rivian Automotive posted better-than-expected gross profits on Thursday evening, and Tesla recalled some cars in the U.S.
Shares of Tesla, the electic vehicle maker led by CEO Elon Musk, fell 4.7% to $337.80, while both the S&P 500 and the Dow Jones Industrial Average fell 1.7%.
Shares of Rivian Automotive, Inc. dropped 4.7% to $12.97 after the company reported its first positive gross profit as a publicly traded company, some $140 million for the fourth quarter. Wall Street was looking for $64 million, according to FactSet.
Gross profits topped estimates, but Rivian's guidance fell short. It expects to sell about 48,500 cars in 2025. Wall Street was looking for closer to 55,000. The company sold almost 52,000 cars in 2024.
Still, the positive gross profit is a milestone for Rivian. The quarterly profit per vehicle was about $12,000. It delivered 14,183 cars in the final quarter of 2024, up from 13,972 a year earlier, when the gross result per vehicle was closer to a loss of $43,000.
Rivian's $12,000 number even beat Tesla. It produced fourth-quarter gross profit per vehicle of about $6,600, down from about $8,400 in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Of course, Tesla shipped almost half a million cars in the fourth quarter. Its total automotive gross profit was about $3.3 billion, more than 20 times what Rivian reported.
Rivian's cost reductions were impressive, but it still only makes relatively high-end cars. The R1T starts at about $70,000. Before Tesla started shipping the mass-market Model 3 in 2017, its gross profit per vehicle was closer to $25,000 per unit.
Tesla was shipping some 20,000 cars a quarter before the Model 3 arrived.
Higher volumes, even at the expense of lower per-car profits, should help Rivian down the road. Its lower-cost R2 platform is due on roads in early 2026. Tesla plans to make even less-expensive EVs, too. A new model is due later this year. The price should start below $30,000.
Wedbush analyst Dan Ives expects the next Tesla to arrive around June.
Investors are anxious for its arrival.
As for recalls, Tesla recently recalled 376,241 cars to fix a power steering issue. Recalls typically don't move stocks. Dozens of vehicle makers recall millions of vehicles every year. Tesla's recall numbers tend to be large because most are fixed with over-the-air software updates. What's more, recalls are typically triggered by a small number of observed problems. About 1% of Tesla vehicles recalled could be affected by the steering problem.
Rivian recently recalled 17,260 cars because of a headlight issue. Those cars need to be taken to a dealer. An estimated 8% of the vehicles recalled could be affected.
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