Considering the electric vehicle (EV) industry, it’s a bad time to have a bad time. One simply needs to glance at Fisker to see that at a time with interest rates making big purchases less enticing, slowing EV demand, and a cash crunch to boot, interest in owning the stock has plunged.
Despite Fisker’s woes, as well as the broader industry’s cautious growth, it isn’t time to give up on Rivian (RIVN -3.31%) just yet. Here’s why.
More stability
While Fisker and Rivian are both pure EV plays, their situation is far from the same. Rivian has proven more capable of producing and delivering its vehicles, making its revenue stream more reliable.
Remember that Fisker only managed to produce 10,142 Ocean vehicles in 2023 and failed to deliver even half of those vehicles. On the other hand, Rivian managed to produce 57,232 vehicles, which exceeded its initial production guidance, and delivered a much higher percentage of those vehicles with that figure hitting 50,122 vehicles.
Taking things a step further, in terms of stability, Rivian boasts $9.4 billion in cash and cash equivalents, and a slightly larger $10.5 billion in total liquidity. Rivian is also far more capable of raising more capital, if needed, than Fisker, which is currently struggling to find lifelines to continue operations and has paused production under its current cash crunch.
In fact, if we’re going to compare situations, Fisker said in a regulatory filing on Monday that it had only $121 million in cash and cash equivalents as of March 15. To make matters worse, the company has accounts payable of up to $182 million.
The right direction
Investors also have to consider that while things are challenging in the EV industry currently, Rivian is still moving in the right direction. Rivian’s net loss checked in at $5.4 billion in 2023, an improvement from 2022’s loss of roughly $6.8 billion.
Those losses are still large, but Rivian is continuing its companywide cost-transformation program, which has led to serious and meaningful reductions in its total unit costs for its R1 vehicles as well as its electric delivery vans (EDVs).
Speaking of moving things in the right direction, management adjusted its R2 launch strategy and will accelerate its production launch by bringing it into its original factory rather than waiting for its Georgia plant to be finished. It’s a no-brainer move that will fill excess capacity in its original factory, as well as save roughly $2.25 billion in costs.
Is it time to give up on Rivian?
For investors, it can certainly be daunting to own shares of EV makers right now. High interest rates are making big purchase decisions more difficult, and demand has failed to accelerate with charging-infrastructure challenges and a lack of more affordable EV options.
But Rivian should have the liquidity and ability to raise more capital to survive this slowdown; its operations are moving in the right direction and should enable the company to become gross-profit positive in late 2024; and its R2 launch is closer to reality than it was a few months ago.
2024 will be a challenging year, but unlike for Fisker, it’s not time to give up on Rivian.
Daniel Miller has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.