Rivian third-quarter earnings beat estimates as software revenue, R2 deliveries rise — SkimNews
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- Rivian beat Wall Street's third-quarter expectations, posting revenue of $2.16 billion versus $1.99 billion expected and an adjusted loss of 48 cents per share against 62 cents expected for the period ended Sept. 30.
- Rivian's 2026 guidance improved across the board: deliveries of 67,000–70,000 units, up from at least 65,000; a pre-tax adjusted loss of $1.75 billion–$1.85 billion, $100 million better at the midpoint; and capital expenditures of $1.4 billion–$1.5 billion, $300 million lower at the midpoint. Rivian attributed the earnings upgrade to better-than-expected regulatory-credit sales revenue, an IEEPA tariff refund receivable booked in the third quarter and higher expected deliveries.
- R2 has become Rivian's best-selling model since its first customer deliveries arrived in June and was responsible for "much of the gain quarter-over-quarter," while Rivian delivered a record 19,248 units from July through September without disclosing deliveries by vehicle.
- Rivian's software and services segment generated $605 million in revenue and $256 million in gross profit, a 42% margin, against nearly $1.55 billion in automotive revenue and an $80 million automotive gross loss.
- Rivian's bottom line improved year over year: gross profit rose to $176 million from $24 million, the net loss attributable to common stockholders narrowed to $913 million from $1.17 billion, and the adjusted EBITDA loss of $435 million was $167 million better, while cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments reached $5.5 billion from $5.3 billion at the end of the second quarter.
- RJ Scaringe reiterated that the R2 is on track for positive gross margin by the end of the year and said Rivian needs to scale beyond current R2 production plans of 160,000 units to reach overall profitability.
- Rivian shares rose roughly 7% in after-hours trading Thursday after touching a new 52-week low of $11.38, closing the regular session at $11.45, down 1.9%.
Why it matters: Rivian's 2026 loss improvement leans in part on regulatory-credit revenue and an IEEPA tariff refund, while the automotive business still posted an $80 million gross loss on nearly $1.55 billion of revenue. The $605 million software segment, at a 42% gross margin, is carrying profitability as shares rose roughly 7% after hours.
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