After a shaky year full of manufacturing hurdles, layoffs, and soft production goals, the electric vehicle maker of Amazon vans and consumer pickups and SUVs managed a not-so shaky landing to end 2024. The company posted its first quarterly gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2024 and managed to exceed its recently lowered production goal for the year.
CEO RJ Scaringe largely attributed the achievement to revenue increases and cost reduction initiatives Rivian undertook in 2024. His team was able to reduce the cost per vehicle by $31,000 in Q4 2024, compared to the final months of 2023. Meanwhile, the R1’s increased average sale price due to a new powertrain option and $300 million in regulatory credit sales (payments from rival automakers to Rivian to balance out their less-efficient vehicles) contributed to Rivian’s $1.5 billion in Q4 automotive segment revenue, which generated $110 million in gross profit, a 7% gross margin.
2024’s Financial Review
Rivian’s total revenue for 2024 amounted to $4.9 billion, a 12% jump over 2023, while operating expenses fell 18% to $3.4 billion. On a quarterly basis, revenue and operating expenses were $1.7 billion and $831 million, respectively, both a year over year improvements.
Contributing to Rivian’s Q4 numbers, as well as going forward in the software and services segment, is revenue from its joint venture with Volkswagen Group, according to CFO Claire McDonough.
“Vehicle electrical architecture and software development services paid for by the Volkswagen Group are now reflected in Rivian's revenue and cost of goods sold,” she said, adding that Rivian’s development services for the venture would be reflected as R&D expenses.
McDonough also said that over the next four years, Rivian executives expect to recognize roughly $2 billion in revenue from Volkswagen. The projection includes cash for licensing background intellectual property, equity premiums, and other “non-cash benefits.”
Production Numbers
At the beginning of 2024, many were surprised when executives announced Rivian’s production goal would be 57,000 vehicles, approximately the same number produced in 2023 (although 2023’s figure was significantly above than the year’s stated goal of 50,000 vehicles). The soft production outlook was further softened in October 2024 when the company announced its new production goal of 47,000 to 49,000 vehicles for the year due to a parts shortage.
In Q4, Rivian’s Normal, Illinois, factory produced 12,727 vehicles, bringing the yearly total to 49,476, 14% less than 2023. Deliveries were similarly soft, coming in at 51,579 for 2024 compared to 50,122 the prior year and in line with the “low single-digit growth” leaders predicted last February.
Outlook
Rivian executives’ 2025 outlook echoed much of the softness of 2024. While neither Scaringe nor McDonough gave full-year production guidance, the company is targeting approximately 14,000 vehicles produced in Q1. Some of the other goals included:
- Vehicle deliveries between 46,000 and 51,000 for the full year.
- Lower commercial deliveries in 2025 and higher finished goods inventory in the first quarter of 2025.
- “Modest” full-year gross profit and an adjusted EBITDA between $1.7 billion and $1.9 billion.
- Capital expenditures between $1.6 billion and $1.7 billion due to Normal plant expansion and supplier tooling for R2.
Further out, McDonough warned that 2026 would be a heavier year for capital expenditures due to the start of construction for the company’s Georgia plant. Rivian’s upcoming R2 SUV was still on track for the first half of 2026, according to Scaringe, who also confirmed that his team had already sourced 95% of the bill of materials and that there would be a one-month shutdown of the Normal facility in the second half of 2025 to prep for the launch.
Shares of Rivian (Ticker: RIVN) have fluctuated over the past six months, bouncing from a November 2024 low of $9.50 per share to a January 2025 high of $16.65 per share. Rivian reported earnings after the bell on Feb. 20th, and the stock price opened at $12.71 per share the following day, a $0.90 drop. Since then, the price has fallen more and now sits at $11.96 per share.
