Key points:
- Barclays slashes RIVN price target from $115 to $47
- How will the company’s recent pricing debacle play into Thursday’s earnings?
- Analyst Brian Johnson believes the price plan was “baked into investor expectations”
- The 3 EV Stocks You Need In Your 2022 Portfolio
On Thursday, Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) is set to announce the company’s Q1 earnings. In terms of timing, Rivian hasn’t exactly been the subject of spotless press in the last few weeks – not that new EV companies ever really are. Just last week, a public uproar followed Rivian’s ill-timed decision to hike prices; including for those who have already pre-ordered vehicles.
Inundated with widespread responses threatening cancellations, Rivian made a bold announcement to revoke the price increases for those that have already pre-ordered; simmering the public outcry in a bid to maintain a trustworthy public reputation.
Ready to put what you’ve learned into practice?
Try IG’s platform with £10,000 in virtual funds and practise trading
without putting your own money at risk.
Try IG with a demo account →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Learn the markets with IG Academy
Build your knowledge with IG Academy educational content, then use a
demo account to practise what you’ve learned on the IG platform.
Explore IG →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
See how trading works before risking real money
IG’s demo gives you access to thousands of markets and £10,000 in
virtual funds, so you can explore the platform and test your ideas first.
Open an IG demo →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Turn trading theory into practical experience
Learn with IG Academy, explore charts and market tools, and practise
strategies in a simulated trading environment before going live.
Start practising with IG →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Ready to take your learning further?
IG combines market education, analysis and an established trading platform,
giving you the tools to keep learning as you develop your trading skills.
Discover IG →
Spread bets and CFDs are complex instruments and come with a high risk of losing money rapidly due to leverage. 69% of retail investor accounts lose money when trading spread bets and CFDs with this provider.
Since the pricing debacle, analysts across the board have been cutting price targets ahead of the company’s approaching earnings. Barclays analyst Brian Johnson cut the firm’s price target to $47 from $115, maintaining an Equal Weight rating.
The price cut comes as an inevitable reaction to Rivian’s decision to bear the weight of rising costs for the sake of public relations instead of inflationary-attested price increases. Moving into earnings, it’s likely we will see strong evidence of supply chain pressures that will be weighing on revenue growth. Johnson believes that the planned price increase was “baked into investor expectations”, hence the rollback throws margin estimations into questioning.
It will no doubt be a tricky earnings call for Rivian; akin to many other vehicle manufacturers that are currently struggling through bottlenecks. This, and the pricing situation may leave investors cautious on Thursday. Will recent investment from calPERS and Third Point have any effect on bearish sentiment?
