Rivian surprised the market with strong earnings results, proving to be an outlier in the electric vehicle market, which has been struggling with the end of government subsidies and cooling consumer enthusiasm.
Shares of the Irvine-based high-end electric vehicle maker soared 27% on Friday after announcing better-than-expected results, indicating that after years of battling losses, it may have finally found a path to profitability.
On Thursday, Rivian reported 2025 gross profit of $144 million, compared with a 2024 net loss of $1.2 billion.
In its earnings release, Rivian attributed the change in gross profit to “strong software and services performance, higher average selling prices, and reductions in cost per vehicle.”
Last October, it laid off about 600 employees, more than 4% of its workforce.
Rivian delivered 42,247 vehicles in 2025 and produced 42,284 vehicles. The company still reported a net loss of $432 million for the year in automotive profits, an improvement from 2024.
“It's a historic turnaround,” said Dan Ives, an analyst at Wedbush Securities. “The last few years have been very frustrating for investors.”
Rivian was founded in Florida in 2009 and made its initial public offering in 2021. It competes with Tesla and other automakers that sell all-electric vehicles at a premium price.
Following the expiration in September of the $7,500 federal tax credit for new electric vehicles, companies have been under pressure to offer lower sticker prices. Last year, Tesla launched new variations of the Model 3 and Model Y that start at about $5,000 less than more expensive versions of the same models.
Investors said the discounts were not enough and that the vehicles, even priced above $35,000, remained out of reach for many consumers. There are only a handful of electric vehicles on the market available for less than $35,000.
Rivian is betting its future on the success of its own lower-priced R2 model, which is expected to start at around $45,000 and deliveries are scheduled to begin this spring.
The least expensive Rivian model available now, the R1T pickup, starts at $72,990.
The company has received positive initial feedback on its R2 SUV, according to the earnings release.
“It's incredibly exciting to see the first solid reviews of pre-production versions of R2, and we look forward to delivering them to our customers next quarter,” Rivian founder and CEO RJ Scaringe said in a statement.
Ives said the R2's popularity will be critical for Rivian, which laid off nearly 1,000 workers in 2025.
“It will be the epicenter of your successes or challenges,” Ives said.
Rivian shares are up more than 33% over the past year, but are down 8% since the beginning of 2026.
“They are back on their flight path with some turbulence still in the air,” Ives said.
