Rivian (RIVN) reported mixed second quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday, and did not report a gross profit as policy changes like tariffs blunted its performance. The company also widened its full-year loss projection as trade wars and the loss of EV tax credits blunt Rivian’s path towards profitability.
Rivian said recent policy actions are expected to “continue to have an impact on its results and cash flows of its business,” and because of some of the recent changes associated with regulatory credits and its second quarter performance, the company is increasing its adjusted 2025 full-year EBITDA (earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization) before interest loss range to $2.0 billion to $2.25 billion, from $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion previously.
Recent policy changes include the Trump administration phasing out the EV tax credit, set to expire on September 30, as well as sector tariffs of 25% on autos and auto parts.
Rivian stock down over 5% in after-hours trading.
For the quarter, Rivian reported revenue of $1.303 billion vs $1.28 billion per Bloomberg consensus estimates, higher than the $1.158 billion reported a year ago. The company posted an EPS loss of $0.97 vs $0.77, with an adjusted EBITDA loss of $667 million vs. $493 million expected.
Rivian also did not post gross profit for the quarter, which it had done the last two prior quarters.
On the positive front, Rivian said development of its upcoming R2 midsize SUV is progressing.
“This quarter we made significant progress in R2 development and testing. We also substantially completed the expansion of our Normal, Illinois facility and have begun installing manufacturing equipment in preparation for our start of production,” CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement.
Rivian said it expects to commission the new R2 line in the third quarter of this year and start validating the equipment and production processes. The R2 is slated for production in 2026.
The company said in early July that it produced 5,979 vehicles at its factory in Normal, Ill., and delivered 10,661 vehicles during the second quarter, slightly below analysts’ consensus of 10,800. Production was limited during the quarter in preparation for model year 2026 vehicles, expected to launch later this month, the company said.
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Rivian reaffirmed its 2025 delivery guidance range of 40,000 to 46,000 vehicles, but it will shut down its factory for three weeks in September for R2 preparations, and in order to increase manufacturing capacity to 215,000 units.
“On the call, we’ll be looking for further detail on Rivian’s progress with its Volkswagen Joint Venture (total deal size of ~$5.8B), and on the company’s progress towards autonomy, and towards commercializing its R2 line, which is slated for SOP [start of production] in 1H26,” Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard wrote.
Deutsche Bank’s Edison Yu added that R2 prototypes have been seen in the wild, further suggesting that 2026 production is in the cards, but there are still headwinds for the business overall.
“Heading into 2H, we worry that EV policy headwinds could keep a lid on the stock,” he wrote in late July. “Moreover, the company is expected to experience some downtime related to R2, hurting overhead absorption.”
Pras Subramanian is the lead auto reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.
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