Rivian Automotive Inc (RIVN.O) issued a warning on Thursday, cutting its projected output in half to 25,000 vehicles in 2022 due to supply-chain difficulties, sending the company’s shares down more than 12% in extended trade.
According to Rivian, as of March 8, 2,425 automobiles have been produced since the start of manufacturing, and 1,410 of those this year. It stated that although it produced on average twice as much per week in the two weeks before March 8 as it did in the fourth quarter of 2021, supply-chain issues are expected to persist into 2022.
As they prepare to begin shipping more electric vehicles in the near future, Rivian and other startups as well as established automakers like Ford Motor Co (F.N) and General Motors Co (GM.N) will face fierce competition from market leader Tesla Inc (TSLA.O).
Compared to a loss of $353 million, or $3.50 per share, in the same period last year, Rivian recorded a fourth-quarter net loss of $2.46 billion, or $4.83 per share. It reported $54 million in sales, far less than the $60 million that investors had anticipated.
In a conference call with investors on Thursday, Chief Executive R.J. Scaringe stated that Rivian anticipates a “substantial” manufacturing ramp-up of the EDV-700 van for Amazon.com Inc. in the second quarter.
Rivian announced that it was “exploring options to further extend” its business partnership with Amazon, which has 100,000 van orders and owns 20% of the firm. The EDV-500, which is a second Amazon van and is shorter and smaller than the EDV-700, will start production this year, according to Rivian.
As of March 8, Rivian reported receiving 83,000 pre-orders for its R1T truck and R1S utility vehicle, up from 71,000 at the beginning of December.
Since reaching its peak after coming public in November, Rivian’s share price had fallen by roughly 77%, and the company had lost $124.5 billion in market value as of Thursday’s market closing.
The corporation had $18.4 billion in cash and equivalents at the end of the quarter.
