Published - July 07, 2022 @ 12:39 PM (EET)

‍

After much-awaited vehicle production and delivery figures, Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) said Wednesday it manufactured 4,401 electric vehicles at its Illinois plant in the second quarter.

The electric truck maker further delivered 4,467 EVs during the period, representing growth of 72% and 264%, respectively, compared to the first quarter.  

In addition, Rivian said it is on track to deliver 25,000 vehicles in 2022, in line with its previous guidance disclosed in the first-quarter earnings report.

Following Wednesday's report, shares of the Irvine, California-based company jumped as much as 7.4%, reassuring investors that Rivian is effectively ramping up its business.  

But despite the big rally, the stock is still down 70.5% year-to-date and over 80% from record November highs.

CFRA analyst Garrett Nelson said that although second-quarter volumes, in-line with expectations are promising, Rivian will need to operate at much higher utilization rates to hit its targets for the second half of the year.   

Along with inflationary pressures and higher interest rates significantly raising the cost of new vehicles, the company still faces an uphill battle as semiconductor supplies remain tight.

NOW WHAT

Although the demand for electric pickup trucks is still relatively small, the shift from traditional internal combustion engines to battery-powered vehicles has become more pressing amid climate change and sustainability initiatives and has proven increasingly popular with consumers.

Rivian is competing against more-established rivals who are releasing their own versions of battery-powered trucks and SUVs. But the EV manufacturer isn't the only car maker struggling to boost production.  

The world's largest car maker, Toyota Motor Corp. (NYSE:TM), missed its global production target in May, citing pandemic-related factory shutdowns and supply chain chip shortages.

RBC Capital analyst Joseph Spak explained that the main focus would be on Rivian's 2022 production target of 25,000 vehicles.

"In our view, the most critical part of the near-term RIVN story depends on hitting their 2022 25k production target. Ideally, we would have liked to see even more improvement in 2Q22 production," Spak said.

Rivian produced 7,969 vehicles from the beginning of production in late 2021 through the end of June.

‍