Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) Trading Down 2.5% – Time to Sell?

Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) shares dropped 2.5% during trading on Thursday . The stock traded as low as $16.88 and last traded at $17.06. Approximately 29,093,802 shares were traded during mid-day trading, a decline of 18% from the average daily volume of 35,592,871 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.50.

Key Stories Impacting Rivian Automotive

Here are the key news stories impacting Rivian Automotive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Recent quarterly results showed top‑line strength — Q3 revenue of ~$1.56B beat estimates and EPS (-$0.65) topped expectations; revenue was up ~78% year‑over‑year, which supports longer‑term demand for Rivian vehicles.
• Neutral Sentiment: UBS kept a “sell” stance but moved its price target to $15 (from $13), signaling continued downside vs. current levels while slightly adjusting its view on valuation. Article Title
• Neutral Sentiment: Consensus brokerage coverage is mixed-to-cautious (a recent compilation shows a consensus “Hold”), and analysts still model negative EPS for the year — reinforcing that upside depends on margin progress and capital availability. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research downgraded Rivian, calling out elevated cash burn and forecasting delayed AI/autonomy catalysts — a key driver of investor disappointment because expected self‑driving/AI milestones were a major future value driver. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: UBS’s downgrade to “sell” (and commentary that near‑term autonomous‑vehicle catalysts are missing) has triggered fresh selling pressure; this is the second downgrade in a short span and has amplified concerns about catalyst timing and funding needs. Article Title
• Negative Sentiment: Market coverage summarizes the selloff: headlines note heavy volume and multiple analyst downgrades as the proximate cause of today’s drop — reinforcing short‑term pressure until clearer funding or AV/AI progress appears. Article Title Article Title

Wall Street Analysts Forecast Growth

A number of equities analysts have recently commented on the company. Robert W. Baird upgraded Rivian Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $14.00 to $25.00 in a report on Thursday, December 18th. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Rivian Automotive from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research report on Saturday, November 8th. Cfra Research raised shares of Rivian Automotive to a “moderate sell” rating in a research note on Thursday, October 2nd. Weiss Ratings reissued a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rivian Automotive in a research report on Wednesday, October 8th. Finally, Wedbush boosted their target price on Rivian Automotive from $16.00 to $25.00 and gave the company an “outperform” rating in a research report on Friday, December 19th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twelve have issued a Hold rating and eight have issued a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat.com, the stock presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and a consensus target price of $16.03.

Rivian Automotive Trading Down 2.5%

The firm has a market capitalization of $20.91 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.49 and a beta of 1.77. The stock has a 50-day simple moving average of $17.99 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $14.99. The company has a current ratio of 2.71, a quick ratio of 2.23 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87.

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) last announced its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The electric vehicle automaker reported ($0.65) EPS for the quarter, beating the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.06. Rivian Automotive had a negative return on equity of 57.33% and a negative net margin of 61.34%.The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($1.08) earnings per share. The business’s revenue for the quarter was up 78.3% on a year-over-year basis. On average, equities research analysts anticipate that Rivian Automotive, Inc. will post -3.2 earnings per share for the current year.

Insider Activity

In other news, CEO Robert J. Scaringe sold 17,450 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction that occurred on Tuesday, January 6th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.55, for a total value of $341,147.50. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer owned 1,132,659 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $22,143,483.45. This represents a 1.52% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this link. Also, Director Peter Krawiec sold 3,655 shares of Rivian Automotive stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total transaction of $71,089.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 29,122 shares in the company, valued at approximately $566,422.90. The trade was a 11.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. In the last quarter, insiders sold 155,054 shares of company stock worth $2,733,010. 2.16% of the stock is currently owned by corporate insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Several hedge funds have recently added to or reduced their stakes in RIVN. Norges Bank purchased a new stake in shares of Rivian Automotive during the second quarter worth about $105,629,000. Vanguard Group Inc. boosted its stake in Rivian Automotive by 3.3% in the 3rd quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,673,512 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $1,198,967,000 after purchasing an additional 2,597,310 shares in the last quarter. Capital International Investors boosted its stake in Rivian Automotive by 13.4% in the 3rd quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 18,351,127 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $269,395,000 after purchasing an additional 2,161,394 shares in the last quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC grew its position in Rivian Automotive by 496.6% during the 2nd quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 2,305,236 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $31,490,000 after purchasing an additional 1,918,852 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC increased its stake in Rivian Automotive by 1,353.6% during the 2nd quarter. Worldquant Millennium Advisors LLC now owns 2,058,284 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock valued at $28,281,000 after purchasing an additional 1,916,686 shares in the last quarter. 66.25% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Rivian Automotive Company Profile

Rivian Automotive, Inc is an American automotive technology company specializing in the design, development and manufacture of electric vehicles. The company is best known for its all-electric R1 platform, which underpins the R1T pickup truck and R1S sport utility vehicle. In addition to consumer products, Rivian has secured a significant commercial contract to produce electric delivery vans for a leading e-commerce provider, underscoring its capability to serve both retail and fleet customers.

Founded in 2009 by engineer and entrepreneur Robert “RJ” Scaringe, Rivian has grown from a research-focused startup into a publicly traded corporation.