What happened
Shares of Rivian Automotive (RIVN -3.62%) dropped Tuesday morning along with virtually the entire U.S. stock market. But while declines in the major market indexes accelerated, Rivian shares bounced off from their initial 4.9% drop and were trading 0.9% higher as of 2:41 p.m. ET.
So what
That reversal didn't come from any current news update. But it may have come from some older news that one financial columnist highlighted in a new article today. That news came last week when the U.S.-based electric vehicle (EV) start-up said it was planning to partner with a well-respected global automaker to manufacture electric vans in Europe.
Image source: Rivian Automotive.
Rivian announced it will join with the Mercedes-Benz Group's Van division to manufacture electric vans in Europe. Today, MarketWatch columnist James Rogers summarized how analysts following Rivian think the international expansion is a winning proposition for the company.
Now what
That discussion appears to have been enough to redirect investors from the inflation headlines that have dominated many market sectors today. Rogers pointed out that widely followed Wedbush analyst Dan Ives shared his thoughts on Rivian's new deal yesterday. Ives wrote, "We view this as a smart strategic move by Rivian to penetrate Europe while ramping production of the EDV [Electric Delivery Vehicle] platform to meet its long-term growth and profitability targets."
Ives added that he believes the company is in prime position to take advantage of both current demand and expected enormous future demand. Those thoughts seem to be enough for investors to look beyond the persistent and disappointing level of inflation in the U.S. Rivian had $15.5 billion in cash at the end of the second quarter and new plans to put some to work, which has investors bucking the overall market trend today.
