A sign outside Rivian’s office in Palo Alto, California, December 10, 2025.
Jason Henry | Bloomberg | Getty Images
Rivian Automotive The company beat Wall Street’s third-quarter profit expectations as it ramped up production of its new R2 entry-level SUV, which it promises will deliver returns for investors.
Here is Rivian’s performance for the period ending September 30th compared to the average estimates compiled by LSEG.
Loss per share: 48 cents adjusted, 62 cents expected Lost earnings: $2.16 billion, $1.99 billion expected
Rivian stock rose about 7% in after-hours trading Thursday after hitting a new 52-week low of $11.38 earlier in the day. The stock closed 1.9% lower at $11.45 per share.
The electric vehicle maker also revised its 2026 guidance to indicate expected improvements in vehicle deliveries, pre-tax adjusted earnings and capital spending.
Under the new guidance, adjusted pre-tax losses are expected to be between $1.75 billion and $1.85 billion, an interim improvement of $100 million from previous guidance. Deliveries will increase from at least 65,000 to 67,000 to 70,000. Capital expenditures will be between $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion, down $300 million at the midpoint.
Rivian attributes the improved pre-tax adjusted earnings outlook to higher-than-expected revenues related to regulatory credit sales, IEEPA tariff rebates received in the third quarter, and expected vehicle deliveries growth.
The R2, whose first deliveries arrived at customers in June, became Rivian’s best-selling model and contributed “the majority of its quarter-over-quarter profit,” the company said.
Rivian delivered a record 19,248 vehicles from July to September. The company did not disclose delivery by vehicle.
While the EV maker remains unprofitable overall, it continued to narrow its losses during the quarter. The company reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $913 million, compared to a net loss of $1.17 billion in the third quarter of 2025.
Rivian’s third-quarter gross profit, which is closely watched by investors, was $176 million, up from $24 million a year earlier. Adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization were a loss of $435 million, an improvement of $167 million from the prior-year period.
The company reported that its software and services segment continued to grow, generating $605 million in revenue and gross profit of $256 million, a 42% profit margin. By comparison, the auto business posted nearly $1.55 billion in sales and a total loss of $80 million.
Also on Thursday, Rivian reiterated that it expects the R2, a sibling to its current R1S luxury SUV, to have positive gross margins by the end of the year. CEO RJ Scaringe said the company needs to scale beyond its current R2 production plan of 160,000 units to achieve overall profitability.
“That increase is critical to achieving positive gross margins at R2, and that will ultimately contribute to positive gross margins for the business,” Scaringe told CNBC’s Phil LeBeau in an interview Thursday. “This will continue through the end of this quarter, and unit economics will continue to grow into the first quarter of next year.”
Rivian on Thursday said it had $5.5 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments, up from $5.3 billion at the end of the second quarter.
