Rivian Posts 48-Cent Adjusted Loss, Beating Estimates, and Trims Its 2026 Loss Forecast
Rivian Automotive reported an adjusted third-quarter loss of 48 cents a share on Thursday, CNBC reported. That was narrower than the 62-cent loss analysts expected.
Revenue was $2.16 billion against a $1.99 billion estimate, based on average forecasts compiled by LSEG, a financial data provider.
Rivian shares closed at $11.45 on Oct. 29, down 1.9%. Earlier in the day they touched a 52-week low of $11.38. They rose roughly 5% in after-hours trading once the results came out.
What the Quarter Showed
The company's net loss attributable to common stockholders was $913 million for the quarter ended Sept. 30, down from $1.17 billion a year earlier. Gross profit, revenue minus the direct cost of making and delivering products, was $176 million.
A year ago it was $24 million.
The Electric Vehicles site, eletric-vehicles.com, noted that gross profit was slightly below the second quarter's $179 million. Gross margin fell to 8% from 11% in the second quarter.
Rivian's software and services segment produced $605 million in revenue and $256 million in gross profit, a 42% margin. The automotive segment brought in about $1.55 billion in revenue. It still recorded an $80 million gross loss.
The R2 is a smaller, cheaper sibling to the R1S luxury SUV, with first deliveries in June. It became Rivian's best-selling model, CNBC reported, and drove much of the quarterly gain. Rivian delivered a record 19,248 vehicles from July through September.
Yahoo Finance said that was up 46% from a year earlier and 58% from the second quarter.
"We had great results with R2 becoming our bestselling vehicle by volume in the third quarter. Customer and media feedback on R2 has been exceptional," CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement carried by Yahoo Finance.
Revised 2026 Guidance
Rivian now expects an adjusted EBITDA loss of $1.75 billion to $1.85 billion for 2026, Yahoo Finance reported. EBITDA means earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The prior range was $1.8 billion to $2 billion.
Analysts had been looking for a loss of $1.88 billion.
Capital expenditures, money spent on plants and equipment, are now forecast at $1.4 billion to $1.5 billion. That is down from $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion. Full-year deliveries are expected at 67,000 to 70,000 vehicles, up from a prior range of 65,000 to 70,000.
CNBC said Rivian credited the improved earnings outlook to three things: higher-than-expected sales of regulatory credits, an IEEPA tariff refund receivable booked in the third quarter, and the expected rise in deliveries.
Other automakers buy regulatory credits when they fall short of emissions rules. Electric Vehicles calculated that the credits brought in about $81 million this quarter, versus roughly $1 million a year earlier.
Cash, Funding and Leadership
Rivian ended the quarter with $5.502 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, up from $5.31 billion at the end of June. Electric Vehicles attributed the increase to a July sale of 86.25 million shares at $15.50 each.
The same report said Rivian burned $1.124 billion in free cash flow during the quarter. In the second quarter it burned $849 million.
A $1 billion Volkswagen loan was funded on Oct. 7. Including that loan and $593 million available under an asset-based credit line, Rivian put its pro-forma liquidity at $7.095 billion.
Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough is leaving on Friday to become CFO of GE Vernova. The call was her last, Electric Vehicles reported. Derek Mulvey, vice president of finance, is expected to serve as interim CFO.
Scaringe has stated that the company needs to scale beyond its current R2 production plans of 160,000 units to reach profitability, CNBC said.