Rivian announces 2023 financial results

Rivian Automotive Inc. announced its fourth quarter and year end 2023 financial results and at the same time reduced its salaried workforce by approximately 10%, or about 1,000 employees.

The company said on a full-year basis, it produced 57,232 vehicles and delivered 50,122, more than doubling production and deliveries from 2022, and exceeded its initial production guidance by more than 7,000 vehicles. Overall, there was a 147% increase in deliveries for the year ended Dec. 31, 2023 as compared to the year ended Dec. 31, 2022.

A Rivian EDV commercial vehicle is shown making a delivery in Brookfield, Wisconsin. (Photo: Chad Elmore)

“We made great progress in 2023 despite economic headwinds, and we’re excited about the year ahead,” said RJ Scaringe, founder and CEO, Rivian, based in Irvine, Calif. “We firmly believe in the full electrification of the automotive industry, but recognize in the short-term, the challenging macro-economic conditions. We are aggressively focused on driving cost efficiency throughout the business, achieving positive margins and building our go-to-market function to support our long-term growth.”

The company said it remains focused on cost efficiency, which it said has resulted in an improvement in operating efficiency in 2023, including a gross profit per delivered vehicle improvement of approximately $81,000, as compared to the fourth quarter of 2022.

Economic and geopolitical uncertainties and pressures, most notably the impact of historically high interest rates, have informed Rivian’s expectations for 2024. With these market conditions, the company expects to produce 57,000 vehicles in 2024, in line with 2023 production.

Rivian said it will continue its company-wide cost transformation program, which has resulted in reductions in total unit costs for the R1 pickup and SUV and the EDV (the Amazon Electric Delivery Van) models through engineering design changes, commercial cost downs and manufacturing efficiencies.

Total revenue for the fourth quarter of 2023 was $1,315 million, driven by the delivery of 13,972 vehicles. For the year end December 31, 2023, total revenue was $4,434 million, supported by 50,122 total vehicle deliveries. Total revenue from the sale of regulatory credits was $39 million for the quarter and $73 million for the fiscal year 2023.

Gross profit was at a negative $606 million for the fourth quarter of 2023, an improvement from negative $1,000 million for the same quarter in 2022. For fiscal year 2023, Rivian showed a loss of $2,030 million, as compared to a loss of $3,123 million in 2022.  Total operating expenses in the fourth quarter of 2023 grew to $975 million, as compared to $795 million in the same period last year.   Net loss for the fourth quarter of 2023 was negative $1,521 million as compared to negative $1,723 million for the same period last year.

As a result of the news, Rivian stock closed last week down 38%.

Late last year, the exclusive deal Rivian had with Amazon for its EDV ended. The company announced that a version of the delivery vehicle would be available to other companies, as well. The company said the Rivian Commercial Van has a payload of up to 2,734 lb. and up to a Gross Vehicle Weight Rating of up to 9,500 lb. Rivian’s in-house software stack controls nearly every interaction, from unlocking the vehicle and opening the door, to charging and acceleration.