Rivian's assembly plant in Normal, Ill., launched production last year.
Rivian Automotive Inc. on Wednesday said it posted a first-quarter net loss of $1.6 billion on revenue of $95 million.
It posted a quarterly loss of $414 million a year ago, but that was before it launched production at its plant in Normal, Ill.
The EV startup reaffirmed its annual production forecast of 25,000 units as it continues to battle supply chain disruptions and high material costs. The Irvine, Calif.-based company's shares rose about 4 percent to $21.42 in extended trading.
Rivian had halved its 2022 forecast in March as it struggled to secure the chips needed to make its R1T pickup truck, R1S SUV and electric delivery van for Amazon Inc.
It delivered 1,227 vehicles in the first quarter, up from 909 units in the previous quarter.
Rivian said it has received over 90,000 pre-orders for its R1S SUV and R1T pickup truck.
The $95 million in revenue for the quarter came in below Wall Street's forecast of $131 million.
EV-newcomer Rivian is struggling after a blockbuster listing in November, the sixth biggest IPO on U.S. record, helped put it on the map. The company was first-to-market with an electric pickup, beating out Ford Motor Co. -- an investor -- and the likes of General Motors and Tesla Inc. It has blamed parts shortages, Covid-19 outbreaks and production hiccups for holding it back.
“Supply chain continues to be the bottleneck of our production,” Rivian said in its shareholder letter. “We have been forced to stop production for longer periods than anticipated, resulting in approximately a quarter of the planned production time being lost due to supplier constraints.”
Rivian said it ended the quarter with $17 billion in cash and cash equivalents, excluding additional lines of credit, down from $18.4 billion at the end of 2021. The company said the funds are sufficient to take it through to the start of production of a next-generation mid-price vehicle to be assembled at a new plant to be built in Georgia.
While output from the Normal plant is constrained, the company already is trying to expand its manufacturing footprint to boost capacity. The company received $1.5 billion in state and local incentives earlier this month to build a second $5 billion factory in Georgia, which it hopes will start up in 2024.
Send us a letter
Have an opinion about this story? Click here to submit a Letter to the Editor, and we may publish it in print.
