Why Rivian Automotive Stock Popped 6.5% Monday
What happened
Shares of Rivian Automotive ( RIVN 6.51% ) dropped last week when it was reported that the company idled production in early January at its Illinois manufacturing plant and that there is local opposition to its previously announced second assembly plant planned in Georgia. But shares rebounded today, and it ironically might have more to do with a different electric vehicle (EV) start-up. Shares of Rivian jumped as much as 7.4% today, closing Monday’s session up 6.5%.
So what
EV investors are watching closely for widely followed electric car maker Lucid Group ( LCID 9.98% ) to report its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 financial update today after the bell. Rivian will follow that with its report on March 10. Lucid stock soared today leading up to its report and on word that it will announce plans for its second manufacturing plant. That was one of the things that looks to have helped the entire group of EV names jump in today’s session.
Image source: Rivian Automotive.
Now what
Rivian is making up some ground from a drop last week when CEO RJ Scaringe told investors that the company is still working to manage production around the ongoing semiconductor chip shortage. Those supply chain constraints were the main reason Rivian failed to meet its own projections for vehicle production in 2021.
There was also news last week that because of local opposition to its proposed second plant, the state of Georgia was taking over the project to help avoid the need for local zoning approvals. On the one hand, that will help fast-track the project, but the company will also likely need to get local support to achieve a smooth operation in the long term.
Rivian is still very early in its business development, and the stock is going to continue to be volatile along the way. Today, EV investors are watching to see how Lucid fares in its first quarterly report since it started commercial production. Rivian shareholders may take a cue from that as the company gets closer to its report next week.
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