Rivian shares slump premarket after annual production guidance disappoints

Investing.com -- Shares in Rivian (NASDAQ:RIVN) tumbled in premarket U.S. trading on Thursday after the electric truck maker reported annual production guidance that fell short of Wall Street estimates and announced deep job cuts.    

For 2024, the company said it expects to produce 57,000 vehicles, missing Wall Street estimates of 66,000, in a sign of waning U.S. demand for electric vehicles. A total of 57,232 vehicles were manufactured in 2023, of which 50,122 were delivered.

Rivian said it is also planning to reduce its salaried workforce by 10% in response to a "challenging macroeconomic environment."

Speaking with investors, Chief Executive RJ Scaringe warned that the business has been impacted by "historically high" interest rates, adding its bank of orders has "notably reduced" over time.

"Our business is not immune to existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties," Scaringe said.

In a note to clients, analysts at Wells Fargo said the firm will need to "improve" its order rate to hit its full-year production goals. 

For the three months ended Dec. 31, Rivian reported a loss of $1.36 a share, narrower than the $1.73 loss a year earlier, while revenue of $1.32 billion was up from $663M. That compared with estimates for an adjusted loss of $1.32 a share on revenue of $1.28B.

Yasin Ebrahim contributed to this report.