(Reuters) – Rivian Automotive Inc beat Wall Street estimates in quarterly earnings on Tuesday, selling more expensive electric vehicles and sticking to its annual production forecast of 50,000 cars.
Shares of Rivian, which cut costs in the January-March period, rose 3% in extended trade as investors cheered the results after Lucid Group Inc and Fisker Inc cut their production targets.
Tesla Inc has cut prices globally this year as part of its recession playbook to boost sales volume, squeezing smaller EV players that started deliveries a year ago.
Rivian expects to ramp up production of its in-house Enduro powertrains to help offset parts supply issues in the second half of the year, helping it meet its annual production target.
The company did not provide details of its pre-orders at the end of the quarter, amid demand concerns exacerbated by high borrowing costs and aggressive price cuts by industry leader Tesla.
Rivian’s R1T pickup trucks start at $73,000, while the R1S SUV costs $78,000.
Amazon-backed Rivian said in March it would sell $1.3 billion in convertible green bonds due 2029 to boost its cash reserves. Analysts see this as a temporary solution.
Revenue for the quarter ended March 31 was $661 million, compared with Wall Street estimates of $652.1 million, according to Refinitiv data.
The company reported a net loss of $1.35 billion in the first three months of the year, compared with $1.59 billion a year earlier.
Cash and cash equivalents were $11.24 billion at the end of the first quarter, compared with $11.57 billion in the prior three-month period.
(Reporting by Akash Sriram and Tanya Jain in Bengaluru, Editing by Vinay Dwivedi)
