Rivian's initial public offering on Wednesday infused its ledger with nearly $12 billion, boosting the electric truck startup's cash cushion to roughly $16 billion.
After rising 29 percent in its first day of trading on the Nasdaq exchange, its shares closed at $100.73, giving it a market cap $88.2 billion. By comparison, General Motors' was $85.1 billion, Toyota Motor Corp.'s was $289.36 billion and Tesla Inc.'s was $1.07 trillion.
So, founder and CEO RJ Scaringe, can quit worrying about money, right?
Wrong.
Despite the windfall from Wall Street, Rivian is a long, long way from easy street.
Half of that $16 billion has already been allocated. In the first half of this year alone, Rivian recorded a net loss of nearly $1 billion. And profits from vehicle sales will not come quick, the company says.
The cash demands on the company in the next three years as it ramps up production, invests in new models, opens service centers, adds headcount, expands overseas, builds a new factory, etc., could very well see Rivian, like Tesla, make return trips to the capital markets to recharge its finances.
"We anticipate our cumulative spending on capital expenditures to be approximately $8 billion through the end of 2023 to support our continued commercialization and growth objectives as we strategically invest in infrastructure, including additional manufacturing capacity, battery cell production, service operations, charging networks, experience spaces, and software development," Rivian told investors.