Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) Shares Gap Up on Analyst Upgrade

Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) shares gapped up before the market opened on Tuesday after TD Cowen upgraded the stock from a hold rating to a buy rating. The stock had previously closed at $15.87, but opened at $16.70. TD Cowen now has a $20.00 price target on the stock, up from their previous price target of $17.00. Rivian Automotive shares last traded at $17.3830, with a volume of 13,055,915 shares changing hands.

A number of other brokerages have also recently weighed in on RIVN. Robert W. Baird raised shares of Rivian Automotive from a “neutral” rating to an “outperform” rating and upped their price target for the stock from $14.00 to $25.00 in a research report on Thursday, December 18th. Canaccord Genuity Group reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Rivian Automotive in a research note on Monday, December 15th. Stifel Nicolaus increased their price objective on Rivian Automotive from $17.00 to $20.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Tuesday, February 17th. Benchmark upped their price objective on shares of Rivian Automotive from $18.00 to $25.00 and gave the stock a “buy” rating in a research note on Wednesday, February 11th. Finally, Tigress Financial increased their price objective on shares of Rivian Automotive from $21.00 to $25.00 and gave the company a “buy” rating in a report on Friday, November 14th. Ten equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, eight have given a Hold rating and seven have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the company currently has an average rating of “Hold” and an average price target of $18.00.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In other Rivian Automotive news, Director Peter Krawiec sold 3,655 shares of the firm’s stock in a transaction dated Monday, December 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $19.45, for a total value of $71,089.75. Following the completion of the transaction, the director owned 29,122 shares in the company, valued at $566,422.90. This trade represents a 11.15% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CEO Robert J. Scaringe sold 17,450 shares of Rivian Automotive stock in a transaction on Tuesday, March 3rd. The stock was sold at an average price of $15.00, for a total transaction of $261,750.00. Following the sale, the chief executive officer directly owned 1,027,281 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $15,409,215. This represents a 1.67% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. Insiders have sold a total of 135,488 shares of company stock worth $2,369,819 over the last 90 days. Corporate insiders own 2.16% of the company’s stock.

Key Rivian Automotive News

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

• Positive Sentiment: TD Cowen upgraded Rivian from “hold” to “buy” and raised its price target to $20 (from $17), citing stronger demand expectations for upcoming R2 models — a direct analyst catalyst supporting the rally. Wall Street analyst updates Rivian stock price
• Positive Sentiment: Pre-market coverage highlighted the TD Cowen upgrade and noted the analyst’s view that R2 demand should be strong, which lifted pre-market sentiment. RIVN stock gains 4% pre-market after TD Cowen upgrade
• Positive Sentiment: Coverage on Rivian’s R2 positions the model as the company’s push into mass‑market, higher-volume EVs — a strategic shift that, if executed well, improves revenue scalability and the path to profitability. Rivian R2 SUV Tests Mass Market Ambitions
• Positive Sentiment: Public bullishness from investors/commentators (e.g., Ross Gerber pushing EV purchases amid high gasoline prices) is directing retail attention toward Rivian as an alternative to Tesla, which can boost demand perception. Ross Gerber: Time To Buy an EV
• Neutral Sentiment: Market context: a short-term lift for Rivian has coincided with oil-price moves and peer action (Lucid and others also rallied), suggesting some of today’s move is macro-driven rather than company-specific. Stocks jump as oil rises
• Neutral Sentiment: Analyses and feature pieces are re-evaluating Rivian’s valuation and turnaround path; these provide constructive frameworks but hinge on execution of R2 launch and sustained delivery improvements. Evaluating Rivian valuation
• Neutral Sentiment: Investor guidance pieces (e.g., The Motley Fool, TechCrunch coverage) stress that a smooth R2 rollout is critical; positive headlines help sentiment but execution risk remains high. How Rivian can turn things around TechCrunch: R2 gambit

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Rivian Automotive

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently bought and sold shares of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its stake in Rivian Automotive by 3.3% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 81,673,512 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $1,198,967,000 after acquiring an additional 2,597,310 shares during the last quarter. Capital International Investors lifted its holdings in shares of Rivian Automotive by 13.2% during the fourth quarter. Capital International Investors now owns 20,769,844 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock worth $409,374,000 after purchasing an additional 2,418,717 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in shares of Rivian Automotive by 32.4% in the 4th quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 16,397,496 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock valued at $323,195,000 after purchasing an additional 4,012,386 shares in the last quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC lifted its stake in shares of Rivian Automotive by 0.4% in the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 14,782,865 shares of the electric vehicle automaker’s stock valued at $290,568,000 after purchasing an additional 59,503 shares during the period. Finally, Norges Bank acquired a new position in Rivian Automotive during the fourth quarter worth about $220,323,000. 66.25% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

Rivian Automotive Stock Performance

The company has a market capitalization of $21.30 billion, a PE ratio of -5.63 and a beta of 1.74. The company has a quick ratio of 1.89, a current ratio of 2.33 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.97. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $16.41 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.72.

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) last announced its earnings results on Thursday, February 12th. The electric vehicle automaker reported ($0.66) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, topping analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.68) by $0.02. Rivian Automotive had a negative net margin of 67.68% and a negative return on equity of 65.05%. The company had revenue of $1.29 billion during the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.27 billion. During the same quarter in the previous year, the business posted ($0.70) earnings per share. The firm’s quarterly revenue was down 25.8% compared to the same quarter last year. On average, research analysts predict that Rivian Automotive, Inc. will post -3.2 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

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.