Rivian Automotive, Inc. (RIVN) announced its first quarter 2024 financial results. As previously announced, the company produced 13,980 vehicles and delivered 13,588, exceeding its outlook with a respective 49 percent and 71 percent increase over the same period last year.
During the first quarter of 2024, Rivian unveiled its new midsize platform which underpins R2, R3, and R3X. Rivian also had announced its intention to begin R2 production at its facility in Normal, Illinois. This is expected to enable start of production for R2 in the first half of 2026 and save over $2.25 billion, as compared to the original forecast of launching R2 production at Rivian’s Georgia site.
Last week, the company announced an incentive package of up to $827 million from the State of Illinois to expand the plant, improve public infrastructure, and to create training programs for Rivian’s workforce.
RJ Scaringe, Rivian Founder and CEO said:
“First-quarter results exceeded our outlook and set a strong foundation for the remainder of the year as we focus on continued demand generation, delivering cost and plant efficiency improvements, advancing R2 development, and driving towards profitability. We hit several milestones this quarter, including producing our 100,000th vehicle in Normal, successfully navigating the retooling upgrade, and unveiling our new midsize platform which underpins the R2, R3, and R3X. It is great to see the incredible support for our brand and upcoming products.”
The recently completed plant retooling upgrade in Normal, Illinois introduced new technologies and cost-focused material changes into the R1 vehicle platform. It also provides the opportunity to improve manufacturing processes that enable the R1 line to run at an approximately 30 percent higher line rate. Furthermore, Rivian also recently transitioned to a new zonal network architecture reducing the number of electronic control units in its vehicle by approximately 60 percent, taking substantial costs out of its vehicles.
Rivian Financial Highlights:
The first quarter of 2024 gross profit per vehicle delivered was $(38,784) which was negatively impacted by $9,346 per vehicle delivered, primarily related to various supplier and other costs incurred in advance of the new technology changes and parts integration into the R1 platform as part of its cost of revenue efficiency initiatives. As a result of the retooling upgrade, the company expects significant improvement in the material and conversion cost of its vehicles and remains confident in its path to achieving modest gross profit in the fourth quarter of this year.
Revenues:
Total revenues for the first quarter of 2024 were $1,204 million, primarily driven by the delivery of 13,588 vehicles. Total revenues from the sale of regulatory credits were de minimis for the quarter.
Gross Profit:
Rivian generated negative gross profit of $(527) million for the first quarter of 2024 as compared to $(535) million for the first quarter of 2023. Gross profit losses decreased primarily due to the increased vehicle production and deliveries, reductions in materials costs, and higher average selling prices. In addition, the first quarter of 2024 includes $171 million of costs as part of its cost of revenue efficiency initiatives primarily related to liabilities incurred during the three months ended March 31, 2024 with suppliers and accelerated depreciation in advance of the updates being made to our Normal Factory during the plant retooling upgrade.
Operating Expenses and Operating Loss:
Total operating expenses in the first quarter of 2024 grew to $957 million, as compared to $898 million in the same period last year.
In the first quarter of 2024, the company recognized a non-cash, stock-based compensation expense within operating expenses of $210 million as compared to $165 million in the first quarter of 2023 and depreciation and amortization expense within operating expenses of $70 million as compared to $58 million in the first quarter of 2023.
Rivian experienced a loss from operations in the first quarter of 2024 totaling $(1,484) million, as compared to $(1,433) million in the same period last year.
Net Loss:
Rivian’s net loss for the first quarter of 2024 was $(1,446) million as compared to $(1,349) million for the same period last year.
RIVN Adjusted EBITDA*
Adjusted EBITDA* for the first quarter of 2024 was $(798) million as compared to $(1,020) million for the same period last year.
RIVN Capital Expenditures:
Capital expenditures for the first quarter of 2024 were $254 million, flat as compared to $283 million for the same period last year.
RIVN Liquidity:
Rivian ended the first quarter of 2024 with $7,858 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments. Including the capacity under its asset-based revolving-credit facility, the company ended the first quarter of 2024 with $9,053 million of total liquidity.
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