Rivian just gave the electric vehicle doom brigade a nasty surprise with earnings that looked more like a business and less like a bonfire.
For those who came in late, the US government has been doing its best to kill off the EV industry in favour of petrol-driven motors, basically to keep Big Oil happy. This has led to a decline in interest in electric cars, at least in the US.
However, these results suggest the trend may be reversing. Shares in the Irvine-based premium EV maker leapt 27 per cent on Friday after it posted stronger-than-expected results, hinting it has found a route out of years of losses.
On Thursday, Rivian reported gross profits for 2025 of $144 million, a sharp swing from a $1.2 billion net loss in 2024. The company still posted a $432 million net loss in 2025, but it was a clear improvement over 2024.
In its earnings release, Rivian credited the move to gross profit to “strong software and services performance, higher average selling prices, and reductions in cost per vehicle.” The firm laid off roughly 600 staff last October, more than four per cent of its workforce.
Wedbush Securities analyst Dan Ives said, “It’s a turnaround for the ages. The past few years have been very frustrating for investors.”
Rivian was founded in Florida in 2009, went public in 2021 and now competes with Tesla and other carmakers selling pricey all-electric vehicles.
With the $7,500 federal tax credit for new EVs expiring in September, automakers have been pressured to lower sticker prices. Tesla responded last year with new versions of the Model 3 and Model Y priced below other trims.
Investors were not impressed, saying the cuts did not go far enough and that cars still costing more than $35,000 were out of reach for many buyers. Only a handful of EVs even sit below $35,000, which keeps the mass market out of the game.
Rivian is pinning much of its hopes on its lower-priced R2, expected to start around $45,000, with deliveries due to begin this spring. The cheapest Rivian you can buy today is the R1T pickup, starting at $72,990.
Rivian founder and chief executive RJ Scaringe tried to keep the hype on a leash, saying: “It’s incredibly exciting to see the early strong reviews of the R2 pre-production builds, and we can’t wait to get them to our customers next quarter.”
Ives said the R2 will decide whether Rivian thrives or flounders, especially after layoffs that hit nearly 1,000 workers in 2025.
He said, “It’s going to be the epicentre of their success or challenges. They’re back on their flight path with still some turbulence in the air.”
