By Ed Ludlow and Aashna Shah | Bloomberg
Irvine-based Rivian Automotive shares fell in early trading after the electric-vehicle maker issued a disappointing production forecast and announced plans for another round of job cuts.
The maker of plug-in pickups, SUVs and delivery vans expects to build just 57,000 vehicles this year, in line with last year’s output and well short of analysts’ average estimate for more than 80,000 units.
The company said late Wednesday it will reduce its salaried workforce by about 10%, its third paring in the last year and a half.
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The outlook underscores the challenges Rivian is having with scaling production and stemming losses amid a slowdown in the battery-powered vehicle market. The company seen as a challenger to Tesla has struggled with supply-chain snags and now is having trouble managing a tougher environment for consumers.
“Our business is not immune to existing economic and geopolitical uncertainties,” Chief Executive Officer RJ Scaringe said on a conference call. “Most notably, the impact of historically high interest rates, which has negatively impacted demand.”
Rivian shares dropped as much as 15% to $13.07 before the start of regular trading Thursday in New York. The stock has already tumbled 34% this year.
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Rivian will prioritize cost-cutting over volume growth this year, though it’s still expecting an adjusted loss of $2.7 billion before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization. The company laid off workers early last year and in mid-2022.
Capital expenditures will rise to $1.75 billion this year, Rivian said, up from about $1.03 billion in 2023. The company initially forecast that it would spend $2 billion last year. Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough told analysts on the conference call that production-efficiency gains have…
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