Tesla Rival Rivian Shares Surge on Production Update, Seen as a ‘Good First Step’ By Investing.com

Shares of Rivian (NASDAQ:) are up 3% in pre open trading today after the electric vehicle (EV) maker said it is on track to reach its production goal of 25,000 vehicles in 2022.

The American carmaker said it produced 2,553 vehicles and delivered 1,227 cars in the first quarter, compared to 1,015 produced and 920 delivered units last year.

Last month, the company warned that issues related to the supply chain could halve its 2022 production target to 25,000.

Rivian’s factory in Normal, Illinois can produce 150,000 vehicles per year, with the company planning to increase that capacity to 200,000 by 2023. Rivian currently makes its R1S sport utility vehicle, R1T pickup truck, and a delivery van for Amazon in that factory.

The carmaker plans to open another factory close to Atlanta in 2024, which is set to increase the company’s capacity to 400,000 vehicles annually.

RBC analyst Joseph Spak reiterated an Outperform rating and a $100.00 per share price target.

“We have more confidence in our 2022 production forecast of 25.5k (and company indicated well positioned to deliver on their 25k production guidance), but we are slightly adjusting our deliveries for 2022 to account for longer in-transit times. Our new 2022 delivery forecast is 23.7k vs. ~24.9k prior and this does modestly tweak our 2022 P&L forecast. We believe production is the focal point, we just previously highlighted deliveries because we didn’t have a consensus production forecast,” Spak said in a client note.

By Senad Karaahmetovic