The Rivian story is “finally” turning around after several difficult quarters, according to Wedbush. “We believe after a number of “one step forward, two steps back” excuses for Rivian and supply chain headaches, the company is finally making a major turn towards executing on its longer term business model,” analyst Daniel Ives wrote in a Friday note. The firm maintained its outperform rating on shares while raising its price target to $30 from $25. The new target price implies shares rallying 38.7% from where they closed Thursday. Ives said the company is “seeing light at the end of the tunnel” after several quarters with overhangs including production and supplier issues. The company’s second-quarter vehicle production quantity topped Wall Street’s estimate and is also in a strong position for the current period, he noted. “The EV manufacturer does believe it is on a steady track to hit its 50,000-production guidance given for FY23 and we believe this is a solid step forward for Rivian in its efforts to deliver on expectations, putting the company in a great position to continue its production ramp while hammering in on cost optimization as one of its largest strategies,” said Ives. Rivian began delivering its RCV vans in Europe through its Amazon partnership earlier this week. This marks the first commercial shipment of vans to Amazon outside of the U.S., marking Rivian’s entry into a new market. “We continue to strongly believe in the Rivian long-term story … making this a table pounder at current levels,” said Ives. Shares were up more than 3% Friday during premarket trading. Shares are up 17.3% in 2023, but remain in the red by more than 31% over the last 12 months. —CNBC’s Michael Bloom contributed to this report.
