Rivian confirms new $5 billion plant, rising EV preorders as provide chain snags strain manufacturing

Rivian Automotive confirmed plans Thursday to construct a brand new $5 billion automobile meeting plant in Georgia, as the corporate begins manufacturing of a second electrical automobile at its present facility in Illinois.

Each are notable milestones for Rivian, which additionally reported its first quarterly outcomes as a public firm after market shut. Nonetheless, whereas the corporate readies to ramp output, provide chain snags are pressuring present manufacturing ranges.

Rivian stated it expects to fall “just a few hundred autos quick” of its 2021 manufacturing goal of 1,200 autos. The corporate’s inventory closed Thursday 5% down and slipped greater than 3% throughout after-hours buying and selling.

“We’ve got been met with probably the most advanced provide chain environments the automotive trade has ever skilled,” the corporate stated in its shareholder letter. “We’re inspired that the problems we’re experiencing, whereas definitely difficult, usually are not systemic in nature.”

Rivian stated complete reservations for its electrical R1T pickup and R1S SUV elevated to 71,000 as of Dec. 15, up 28% in contrast with the latest tally of 55,400 autos in November.

The corporate stated it has produced 652 R1T and R1S autos and delivered 386 of these, together with the manufacturing and sale of the primary two R1S SUVs earlier this week.

The corporate’s quarterly outcomes fell in keeping with Wall Avenue projections and with estimates the corporate beforehand launched as a part of its latest IPO.

For the third quarter, Rivian reported an operational lack of $776 million and a internet lack of $1.23 billion. The corporate had beforehand predicted an operational loss between $745 million and $795 million and a internet loss between $1.21 billion and $1.28 billion.

The corporate posted a loss per share of $12.21 on income of about $1 million.

Wall Avenue analysts anticipated the corporate to report a $5.52 earnings per share loss on income of $1 million, in keeping with a handful of estimates compiled by Refinitiv. CNBC doesn’t examine reported EPS to Wall Avenue analysts for an organization’s first report since going public due to uncertainty round share counts.

The brand new battery and meeting plant introduced Thursday shall be east of Atlanta and is anticipated to facilitate manufacturing of as much as 400,000 autos per 12 months, Rivian stated. Development on the ability is anticipated to start in summer season 2022, and the beginning of manufacturing is slated for 2024. 

Rivian, whose stakeholders embody Amazon and Ford Motor, was the primary automaker to go to market with an all-electric pickup truck known as the R1T. It went public by way of a blockbuster IPO in November.

Wall Avenue analysts have set a excessive bar for Rivian, evaluating CEO RJ Scaringe to Superman and saying the corporate’s “the one” able to difficult EV chief Tesla.

Rivian continues to be a development story, although. It expects capital expenditures of about $8 billion by way of 2023, with some analysts resembling BofA Securities’ John Murphy forecasting Rivian will not flip an working revenue till a minimum of 2025.

— CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.