Rivian lowers earnings guidance after missing Wall Street’s third-quarter expectations

Rivian Automotive lowered its earnings forecast for the year after missing Wall Street’s third-quarter expectations, including a significant miss in revenue.

Here’s how the company performed in the quarter, compared with average estimates compiled by LSEG:

• Loss per share: 99 cents adjusted vs. a loss of 92 cents expected
• Revenue: $874 million vs. $990 million expected

Rivian said it now expects adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization of between a loss of $2.83 billion and a loss of $2.88 billion loss. That compares to a previous guidance of roughly $2.7 billion loss.

But Rivian reconfirmed plans Thursday to achieve a “modest positive gross profit” during the fourth quarter of this year, which is being closely monitored by Wall Street.

“Our core focus is on driving towards profitability,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau on Thursday. “Looking at Q4, we continue to guide toward gross margin.”

The company reported a negative gross profit of $392 million for the third quarter compared with a loss of $477 million a year earlier.

Shares of Rivian during after-hours trading Thursday were up roughly 2% after initially declining. The stock closed Thursday at $10.05, up 3.5%

RBC Capital Markets analyst Tom Narayan said the company maintaining the gross profit target should benefit the stock: “Many analysts we spoke to into the print thought the company might withdraw this target. On that basis, we could see shares trade higher,” he said in an investor note Thursday.

The automaker’s net loss narrowed year-over-year to $1.1 billion compared to $1.37 billion during the third quarter of 2023. Its revenue, including $8 million in sales of regulatory credits, dropped by 34.6% compared to a year ago amid supplier disruptions that impacted the company’s production.

“This has ben a tough quarter for us,” Scaringe told investors Thursday about the supplier issues. “We’re seeing this as a short-term issue.”

Rivian last month lowered its annual production forecast from 57,000 units to between 47,000 and 49,000 due to the disruption. It reconfirmed that range Thursday.

The supplier disruptions have occurred as the automaker attempts to launch its second-generation “R1” vehicles. The 2025 model-year redesigns included significant changes to the vehicle’s internal parts.

Separate from third-quarter results, Rivian on Thursday announced an “important strategic partnership” with LG Energy Solution to supply U.S. manufactured battery cells for the company’s upcoming R2 vehicles in 2026.