Rivian Earnings -- 2Q22 -- August 11, 2022

Link here. it's "how" one writes the headline.

From the linked WSJ article:

“We’ve seen unprecedented levels of inflation, especially across our raw material inputs and lithium prices,” said Claire McDonough, Rivian’s finance chief.

“We’ve also experienced increased costs in regard to our expedited freight expenses,” she said.

Rivian is seeking to rein in those costs by increasingly shipping vehicles by rail instead of by truck, which is cheaper but could result in a longer delivery time to customers.

A couple of comments:

• "everyone" is blaming inflation; it's getting old;
• but shipping by rail rather than truck to save costs? Aren't delivery and destination charges passed o to the customer?
• everything suggests we will know by the end of this year, 2022, whether Rivian thrives, or even survives.
  

Later: earnings -- link here --

• Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive maintained its full-year guidance for deliveries Thursday.
• The automaker reported second-quarter revenue that was higher than Wall Street expected.
• But it trimmed its full-year financial outlook, saying that investors should now expect a wider loss and lower capital expenditures than it had previously forecast.
• forecast:
• full year adjusted loss before EBITDA: $5.4 billion vs $4.75 billion
  
• results
• revenue: $364 million vs $337.5 forecast
• adjusted loss per share: $1.62 vs a $1.63 loss

Original Post

Pre-announcement, link here at techcrunch.

Rivian, the EV startup that went public last year in one of the largest IPOs in U.S. history, has bucked the trend set by Tesla and other EV makers during the first half of the year.

Tesla, the world’s largest EV maker, reported two consecutive quarters of delivery declines stemming from delays in the supply chain and COVID-related lockdowns in Shanghai that stymied production its Gigafactory there.

Lucid has cut its 2022 production forecast several times this year, now targeting 6,000 to 7,000 vehicles, down from its original plan to build 20,000. U.K.-based Arrival said Thursday that it is slashing its 2022 target from 400 to 600 vehicles down to just 20.

Meanwhile, Rivian, which set a goal to own more than 10% of the global market eventually, said it has ramped up production so far this year – a mix of the Rivian R1T pickup truck, R1S SUV and the EDV commercial electric vans it is making for Amazon – and reaffirmed its target to deliver 25,000 vehicles this year.

However, the Irvine, California-based manufacturer faces the same financial pressures affecting the automotive industry. In July, it began laying off 900 employees – about 6% of its workforce – as part of a restructuring plan.

From IBD:

Rivian has begun its restructuring plan that includes laying off about 6% of its workforce, or about 900 people, according to an Aug. 1 TechCrunch report, citing an internal email.

The layoffs are affecting every department, except manufacturing operations at its Normal, Ill., factory.

Meanwhile, Rivian is also having difficulty delivering vehicles to customers on time. Rivian Forums reported on June 11, 2022, that some Rivian SUV reservation holders had received an email indicating delayed deliveries. Some who had an April-May delivery date were told they'd have to wait until the August-September time-frame; others until October-December.

Estimate: FactSet analysts expect the company to post a loss of $1.63 a share vs. a 66-cent loss in the year-ago quarter. Sales are seen coming in at $335.4 million. There is no year-ago revenue figure. 

Rivian has already said it produced 4,401 EVs in Q2, for a first-half total of 6,954.

Investors will want to know if Rivian still expects to produce 25,000 vehicles in 2022, which would require a continued ramp up.

Rivian's R1T all-electric pickup truck was the first of its kind to hit the market in July 2021, beating out the Tesla (TSLA) Cybertruck, which has yet to enter production, and the Ford (F) F-150 Lightning.