Rivian Stock Is Falling On Downgrades. Risks Are "Piling Up."

Dow Jones
24 Feb

Rivian Automotive stock fell 8% early Monday following a couple of recent Wall Street downgrades. Risks are starting to outweigh potential rewards.

Wall Street deserves most of the credit for the decline. On Monday, BofA Securities downgraded Rivian stock, following a cut from Cantor Fitzgerald on Friday.

BofA’s John Murphy cut his rating on Rivian stock to Sell from Hold, and took his target to $10 from $13 as risks are “piling up.” The company “remains one of the most viable” EV start-ups, but its 2025 outlook was weaker than expected, he added in a research report.

Viability can be seen in profits and cash. Rivian produced its first quarterly gross profit of $140 million in the fourth quarter, a sign costs were coming under control. What’s more, it ended the quarter with about $9 billion in total cash and liquidity. That’s about three years of cash, based on current Wall Street estimates.

But demand isn’t great. Rivian expects to deliver 46,000 to 51,000 vehicles in 2025, below Wall Street projections of about 55,000 vehicles. It delivered almost 52,000 cars in 2024, which means the company is expecting a decline.

The weak outlook comes during policy uncertainty, increasing competition, and slowing demand growth.

Americans bought about 1.3 million EVs in 2024, up about 7% in 2023. Growth is positive, but sales grew 46% in 2023 compared with 2022.

As for policy, President Donald Trump has promised to eliminate the federal purchase tax credit worth up to $7,500 for qualifying EV purchases. That’s one of the reasons Cantor’s Andres Sheppard cut his rating on Rivian stock to Hold from Buy, but his price target went up a little, however, to $15 from $13.

“We Downgraded Rivian to [Hold] due to lower vehicle deliveries, fewer [electric delivery van] deliveries, and worsening macro conditions, including the implementation of incremental tariffs and the likely removal of the $7,500 EV Tax Credit,” wrote Sheppard in a Monday note reviewing the recent cut.

Overall, 30% of analysts covering Rivian stock have Buy ratings. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. The average analyst price target for Rivian stock is about $15.

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