Rivian ended the first quarter with a smaller loss than last year thanks to greater revenue and successful cost-cutting measures.
The electric vehicle manufacturer saw quarterly revenue of $661 million, $8.9 million ahead of its forecast and nearly seven times its earnings from the prior year. While its gains failed to prevent a $1.35 billion loss from January through March, Rivian still succeeded in improving over Q1 2022, which saw a higher net loss of $1.59 billion. The company reported cash and cash equivalents of $11.24 billion, down $330 million from the previous quarter. This year, the brand expects to spend $2 billion in total, $418 million of which was spent over Q1 2023.
Despite the unfavorable numbers, Rivian expects 2024 to be the year it becomes profitable. In a statement, CEO RJ Scaringe wrote, “Our core priorities for 2023 are unchanged. The team remains focused on ramping production, driving cost reductions, developing the R2 platform and future technologies and delivering an outstanding end-to-end customer experience.” As part of its financial strategy, the company is looking to build its own EV motors, abandoning its use of expensive third-party suppliers while purchasing cheaper battery components. CFO Claire McDonough called both cost-cutting measures “critical” to achieving profitability.
Rivian confirmed that the company was on track to meet its 50,000 unit manufacturing target provided earlier in the year. After reporting a relatively small quarterly production of 9,395 vehicles in April, the result of scheduled factory shutdowns and upgrades, the automaker will need to increase output by 44% to meet its goals.
