Rivian (RIVN) reported strong fourth quarter results after the bell on Thursday and came through on its goal of posting a “gross profit” for the quarter. The company posted a smaller-than-expected full-year 2024 EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) loss to boot and sees a smaller loss in 2025 compared to a year ago.
Despite the positive results, Rivian stock dipped 3% in early trading on Friday.
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Rivian reported a gross profit of $170 million in the fourth quarter, primarily driven by “improvements in variable costs, revenue per delivered unit, and fixed costs,” the company said in a statement.
“This quarter we achieved positive gross profit and removed $31,000 in automotive cost of goods sold per vehicle delivered in Q4 2024 relative to Q4 2023,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement. “Our focus on cost efficiency across the business is critical for the launch of our mass market product, R2. The R2 bill of materials is approximately 95% sourced and is expected to be approximately half that of the improved R1 bill of materials.”
In terms of guidance, Rivian sees its 2025 full-year adjusted EBITDA loss in the range of $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion, with vehicle deliveries between 46,000 and 51,000.
On the conference call, CFO Claire McDonough said the company expects fewer deliveries in Q1 due to seasonality and the effects of the wildfires on the state of California, where many Rivian purchases are made. McDonough said the company expects only 8,000 deliveries in Q1 and 14,000 units to be produced.
Rivian stock was up over 3% in after-hours trading but lost those gains.
“RIVN provided relatively conservative FY25 guidance as the company battles a myriad of macro headwinds while looking to balance the ramp of its vehicle lines to generate stable revenue growth while remaining prudent on spend to drive bottom-line expansion,” Wedbush analyst Dan Ives said in a note to clients. “FY25 delivery guidance of 46k to 51k vehicles implies negative y/y growth in deliveries including an 8k delivery target for 1Q as the company’s planned plant shutdown in the 2H25 for R2 integration is impacting delivery guidance.”
For the quarter, Rivian reported revenue of $1.73 billion versus the $1.38 billion expected per Bloomberg consensus estimates, 32% higher than the $1.31 billion reported a year ago. The company reported an adjusted loss per share of $0.46, beating estimates for a $0.65 loss, with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $277 million, better than the $399.8 million expected.
For the year 2024, Rivian posted an adjusted EBITDA loss of $2.68 billion, lower than the $2.87 billion loss projected last quarter and an improvement compared to the $3.78 billion loss from a year ago.
Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe speaks onstage during the Rivian Reveals All-Electric R2 Midsize SUV event at Rivian South Coast Theater on March 7, 2024, in Laguna Beach, Calif. (Phillip Faraone/Getty Images for Rivian) ·Phillip Faraone via Getty Images
In early January, the company said it produced 49,476 vehicles and delivered 51,579 in 2024. In Q4, Rivian produced 12,727 vehicles and delivered 14,183 vehicles.
Rivian said it had $5.29 billion in cash and cash equivalents, down from $7.85 billion a year ago.
The joint venture, announced last June, will use Rivian’s electrical architecture — known as “zonal architecture” — and accompanying software stack to enable the launch of Rivian’s upcoming midsize R2 SUV in the first half of 2026.
In November, Rivian also revealed that it won a “conditional commitment” from the Department of Energy (DOE) for a $6.6 billion loan, highlighting Rivian’s improving capital condition. The loan, part of the DOE’s Advanced Technology Vehicles Manufacturing program, would support the construction of Rivian’s upcoming assembly plant located outside Atlanta.
The new Trump White House, however, and the Department of Government Efficiency say they will scrutinize the deal, potentially putting the DOE loan to Rivian in limbo.
A fleet of Rivian Electric Delivery Vehicles (EDV) are connected to electric chargers during a launch event between Amazon and Rivian at an Amazon facility on July 21, 2022, in Chicago. (Mustafa Hussain/Getty Images) ·Mustafa Hussain via Getty Images
“We reiterate our Sell rating in light of RIVN’s 35% jump since its Q3 earnings release, the weaker-than-expected 2025 guidance, and risks related to a potential clawback of the $6.6B Energy Department loan approved late in the Biden administration,” CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson wrote in a note to clients.
Finally, earlier this month Rivian said it would open up orders for its EDV commercial delivery van, which could open another revenue stream for a company looking to scale up, grow revenue, and cut costs.
Rivian Automotive is recalling 17,260 US vehicles over a headlight issue that may reduce visibility and raise crash risks, the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration said Friday.
This story has been updated.
Correction: An earlier version of this story had an adjusted loss per share of $0.70 for Q4. That has been corrected to $0.46. The EBITDA loss for last year was also corrected to $3.78 billion. We regret the errors.
Pras Subramanian is a reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
