Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) Shares Up 3.4% – Should You Buy?

Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN)’s stock price shot up 3.4% on Wednesday . The stock traded as high as $18.07 and last traded at $17.74. 25,275,087 shares were traded during trading, a decline of 14% from the average session volume of 29,383,826 shares. The stock had previously closed at $17.15.

Rivian Automotive News Summary

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

• Positive Sentiment: R2 production milestone — Rivian announced a new production milestone for the R2 at its Normal, Illinois plant, signaling that the lower-cost SUV is moving into volume manufacturing, which supports revenue scale and long-term margin improvement. Rivian Just Hit a New Production Milestone. Does That Make RIVN Stock a Buy?
• Positive Sentiment: Plant resilience and R2 ramp after tornado — Rivian confirmed full R2 production resumed quickly after a tornado hit the Normal facility, a positive signal on operations continuity and execution risk. That operational resilience helped recent momentum in the shares. Rivian Automotive (RIVN) Valuation Check As R2 SUV Production Advances After Illinois Tornado
• Positive Sentiment: Battery second-life project with Redwood — Rivian and Redwood Materials are deploying second-life EV battery packs for on-site energy storage at the Normal plant, which could lower operating costs, improve plant energy resilience and strengthen ESG credibility. Rivian Taps Second Life Batteries For Plant Storage And Investor Questions
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst mix: consensus ‘Hold’ — Coverage is split (sells/holds/buys) with a MarketBeat/Market consensus of “Hold,” implying no clear analyst-driven directional push right now. Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) Receives Average Rating of “Hold” from Analysts
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor attention rising — RIVN has been a trending ticker (high retail/institutional search interest), which can amplify moves but doesn’t guarantee direction. Elevated attention increases short-term volatility. Rivian Automotive, Inc. (RIVN) Is a Trending Stock: Facts to Know Before Betting on It
• Negative Sentiment: Earnings preview warns of a Q1 decline — Earnings previews from Zacks and others expect Q1 results to weaken, creating downside risk if Rivian misses revenue or loss-reduction targets in its upcoming report. Earnings Preview: Rivian Automotive (RIVN) Q1 Earnings Expected to Decline
• Negative Sentiment: R2 price vs. original target — The R2 launched at about $57,990, materially above the long-promised $45k target; higher pricing may help margins but raises questions about demand elasticity and the “affordable EV” narrative that supported a volume-growth thesis. Rivian starts R2 EV production in Normal, Illinois

Analysts Set New Price Targets

Several brokerages have recently weighed in on RIVN. TD Cowen upgraded shares of Rivian Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and boosted their price objective for the stock from $17.00 to $20.00 in a research report on Tuesday, March 10th. Deutsche Bank Aktiengesellschaft raised shares of Rivian Automotive from a “hold” rating to a “buy” rating and lifted their target price for the company from $16.00 to $23.00 in a report on Friday, February 13th. Stifel Nicolaus lifted their target price on shares of Rivian Automotive from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Jefferies Financial Group reaffirmed a “hold” rating and issued a $15.00 target price on shares of Rivian Automotive in a report on Tuesday, March 3rd. Finally, Wedbush reaffirmed an “outperform” rating and issued a $25.00 target price on shares of Rivian Automotive in a report on Friday, February 13th. Eleven analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, nine have assigned a Hold rating and six have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has a consensus rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $18.05.

Rivian Automotive Stock Down 2.5%

The company has a market capitalization of $20.50 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -5.38 and a beta of 1.69. The company has a current ratio of 2.33, a quick ratio of 1.89 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The firm’s 50 day simple moving average is $15.75 and its 200-day simple moving average is $16.06.

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) last announced its quarterly earnings data on Thursday, February 12th. The electric vehicle automaker reported ($0.54) EPS for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.14. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.27 billion. Rivian Automotive had a negative net margin of 67.68% and a negative return on equity of 65.05%. Rivian Automotive’s quarterly revenue was down 25.8% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the firm earned ($0.70) EPS. On average, sell-side analysts anticipate that Rivian Automotive, Inc. will post -3.04 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rivian Automotive news, CFO Claire Mcdonough sold 27,133 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.80, for a total transaction of $455,834.40. Following the completion of the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 680,836 shares in the company, valued at approximately $11,438,044.80. This represents a 3.83% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, CEO Robert J. Scaringe sold 34,900 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Wednesday, February 18th. The stock was sold at an average price of $16.80, for a total transaction of $586,320.00. Following the transaction, the chief executive officer owned 1,044,731 shares of the company’s stock, valued at approximately $17,551,480.80. The trade was a 3.23% decrease in their position. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. In the last 90 days, insiders have sold 148,888 shares of company stock valued at $2,411,276. 2.16% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rivian Automotive

A number of large investors have recently bought and sold shares of RIVN. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. raised its position in Rivian Automotive by 113.6% during the 2nd quarter. Newbridge Financial Services Group Inc. now owns 1,880 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $26,000 after buying an additional 1,000 shares during the last quarter. Core Wealth Advisors LLC acquired a new position in shares of Rivian Automotive during the 4th quarter worth $27,000. Mather Group LLC. acquired a new position in shares of Rivian Automotive during the 3rd quarter worth $30,000. Hemington Wealth Management grew its stake in shares of Rivian Automotive by 291.0% during the 3rd quarter. Hemington Wealth Management now owns 2,123 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,580 shares during the period. Finally, SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. grew its stake in shares of Rivian Automotive by 894.2% during the 4th quarter. SOA Wealth Advisors LLC. now owns 1,551 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $31,000 after purchasing an additional 1,395 shares during the period. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.25% of the company’s stock.

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.