Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) Cut to “Underperform” at Wolfe Research

Wolfe Research downgraded shares of Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) from a peer perform rating to an underperform rating in a report published on Monday, MarketBeat.com reports.

Other equities research analysts have also recently issued reports about the company. Stifel Nicolaus increased their target price on Rivian Automotive from $16.00 to $17.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Monday, November 17th. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Rivian Automotive in a research note on Wednesday, October 8th. Zacks Research raised shares of Rivian Automotive from a “strong sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Monday, November 10th. The Goldman Sachs Group upped their target price on shares of Rivian Automotive from $13.00 to $16.00 and gave the stock a “neutral” rating in a research note on Friday, December 12th. Finally, DA Davidson raised their price target on shares of Rivian Automotive from $13.00 to $15.00 and gave the company a “neutral” rating in a research report on Tuesday, November 11th. One investment analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eight have issued a Buy rating, twelve have assigned a Hold rating and eight have given a Sell rating to the company’s stock. According to MarketBeat.com, Rivian Automotive currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average target price of $16.03.

Rivian Automotive Stock Performance

NASDAQ:RIVN opened at $17.50 on Monday. The company has a quick ratio of 2.23, a current ratio of 2.71 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.87. The firm’s fifty day simple moving average is $17.99 and its 200 day simple moving average is $14.99. The stock has a market cap of $21.45 billion, a P/E ratio of -5.63 and a beta of 1.77. Rivian Automotive has a twelve month low of $10.36 and a twelve month high of $22.69.

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) last announced its earnings results on Tuesday, November 4th. The electric vehicle automaker reported ($0.65) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping the consensus estimate of ($0.71) by $0.06. The firm had revenue of $1.56 billion during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $1.27 billion. Rivian Automotive had a negative return on equity of 57.33% and a negative net margin of 61.34%.The business’s revenue was up 78.3% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter in the prior year, the company earned ($1.08) EPS. As a group, research analysts predict that Rivian Automotive will post -3.2 EPS for the current year.

Insider Activity at Rivian Automotive

In other Rivian Automotive news, CEO Robert J. Scaringe sold 52,350 shares of the business’s stock in a transaction on Tuesday, November 11th. The shares were sold at an average price of $16.60, for a total transaction of $869,010.00. Following the completion of the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,246,405 shares in the company, valued at approximately $20,690,323. The trade was a 4.03% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is accessible through this hyperlink. Also, Director Peter Krawiec sold 3,655 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, December 15th. The shares were sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total value of $71,089.75. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 29,122 shares in the company, valued at $566,422.90. The trade was a 11.15% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. Insiders have sold a total of 155,054 shares of company stock worth $2,733,010 over the last quarter. Company insiders own 2.16% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Trading of Rivian Automotive

A number of hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of RIVN. Brighton Jones LLC grew its stake in shares of Rivian Automotive by 28.0% during the 4th quarter. Brighton Jones LLC now owns 17,685 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock valued at $235,000 after purchasing an additional 3,864 shares during the period. AQR Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rivian Automotive by 1.5% in the first quarter. AQR Capital Management LLC now owns 386,384 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $4,733,000 after buying an additional 5,590 shares during the last quarter. Empowered Funds LLC boosted its holdings in shares of Rivian Automotive by 10.1% in the first quarter. Empowered Funds LLC now owns 54,560 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $679,000 after buying an additional 4,998 shares during the last quarter. Focus Partners Wealth grew its position in Rivian Automotive by 29.0% during the first quarter. Focus Partners Wealth now owns 64,534 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock valued at $803,000 after buying an additional 14,497 shares during the period. Finally, Belpointe Asset Management LLC increased its holdings in Rivian Automotive by 9.0% during the first quarter. Belpointe Asset Management LLC now owns 19,225 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock valued at $239,000 after buying an additional 1,581 shares during the last quarter. Hedge funds and other institutional investors own 66.25% of the company’s stock.

Rivian Automotive News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting Rivian Automotive this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe slated as a keynote speaker at ACT Expo 2026 — raises visibility with commercial fleet buyers and highlights Rivian’s truck/van commercial strategy. ACT Expo announcement
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyst coverage is mixed-to-cautious overall: some outlets show a consensus Hold while independent price forecasts vary — signaling no clear upside catalyst from the sell-side yet. Consensus rating report
• Neutral Sentiment: Market commentary pieces and price-forecast articles highlight both the company’s long-term potential and recent short-term weakness; these serve more as background than immediate catalysts. MarketBeat EV piece
• Negative Sentiment: UBS downgraded Rivian to Sell (from Neutral/Hold) and set a $15 price target, citing valuation and near-term risks — this is a high-profile downgrade that has put immediate downward pressure on the shares. Barron’s UBS downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Wolfe Research lowered its rating to Underperform — another institutional downgrade adding to selling momentum and analyst skepticism. Wolfe Research downgrade
• Negative Sentiment: Multiple headlines point to consecutive sessions of losses and the stock being pressured after these downgrades — elevated volume suggests the moves are driven by sentiment shifts rather than new operational problems. Schaeffers Research coverage

About Rivian Automotive

Rivian Automotive, Inc is an American automotive technology company specializing in the design, development and manufacture of electric vehicles. The company is best known for its all-electric R1 platform, which underpins the R1T pickup truck and R1S sport utility vehicle. In addition to consumer products, Rivian has secured a significant commercial contract to produce electric delivery vans for a leading e-commerce provider, underscoring its capability to serve both retail and fleet customers.

Founded in 2009 by engineer and entrepreneur Robert “RJ” Scaringe, Rivian has grown from a research-focused startup into a publicly traded corporation.