Is It Time to Give Up on Rivian?

Key Points

Rivian's gap between production and deliveries is much healthier than Fisker's situation.

Rivian's losses and total unit costs are moving in the right direction.

An accelerated R2 launch will save billions and fill excess capacity in its original factory.

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It's understandable for EV investors to be cautious and concerned right now -- but should you give up on Rivian?

Considering the electric vehicle (EV) industry, it's a bad time to have a bad time. One simply needs to glance at Fisker to see that at a time with interest rates making big purchases less enticing, slowing EV demand, and a cash crunch to boot, interest in owning the stock has plunged.

Despite Fisker's woes, as well as the broader industry's cautious growth, it isn't time to give up on Rivian (RIVN 6.10%) just yet. Here's why.

More stability

While Fisker and Rivian are both pure EV plays, their situation is far from the same. Rivian has proven more capable of producing and delivering its vehicles, making its revenue stream more reliable.

Remember that Fisker only managed to produce 10,142 Ocean vehicles in 2023 and failed to deliver even half of those vehicles. On the other hand, Rivian managed to produce 57,232 vehicles, which exceeded its initial production guidance, and delivered a much higher percentage of those vehicles with that figure hitting 50,122 vehicles.

Taking things a step further, in terms of stability, Rivian boasts $9.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and a slightly larger $10.5 billion in total liquidity. Rivian is also far more capable of raising more capital, if needed, than Fisker, which is currently struggling to find lifelines to continue operations and has paused production under its current cash crunch.

In fact, if we're going to compare situations, Fisker said in a regulatory filing on Monday that it had only $121 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 15. To make matters worse, the company has accounts payable of up to $182 million.

The right direction

Investors also have to consider that while things are challenging in the EV industry currently, Rivian is still moving in the right direction. Rivian's net loss checked in at $5.4 billion in 2023, an improvement from 2022's loss of roughly $6.8 billion.

Those losses are still large, but Rivian is continuing its companywide cost-transformation program, which has led to serious and meaningful reductions in its total unit costs for its R1 vehicles as well as its electric delivery vans (EDVs).

Speaking of moving things in the right direction, management adjusted its R2 launch strategy and will accelerate its production launch by bringing it into its original factory rather than waiting for its Georgia plant to be finished. It's a no-brainer move that will fill excess capacity in its original factory, as well as save roughly $2.25 billion in costs.