Rivian Stock Drops After Wall Street Downgrades

We don’t usually cover stock news, but this one felt worth talking about. Rivian’s stock took a hit Monday after back-to-back downgrades from Wall Street, with analysts pointing to growing risks that are starting to outweigh the upside. BofA Securities dropped its rating from Hold to Sell, slashing its price target from $13 to $10, while Cantor Fitzgerald also cut its rating from Buy to Hold last Friday.

So what’s the problem? Demand. Rivian expects to deliver between 46,000 and 51,000 vehicles in 2025, which is below Wall Street’s estimate of 55,000. Worse, it’s actually a step down from the nearly 52,000 vehicles it delivered in 2024. That’s not exactly what investors want to see, especially in a cooling EV market.

To be fair, Rivian isn’t broke—it ended last quarter with $9 billion in cash, giving it about three years of financial runway at current spending levels. Plus, it finally turned a quarterly gross profit of $140 million, showing that costs are coming under control. But that’s not enough to outweigh the concerns about slower growth, rising competition, and policy uncertainty.

Speaking of policy, Trump has promised to eliminate the $7,500 federal EV tax credit, which would make Rivians (and other EVs) even pricier for buyers. That’s one of the reasons Cantor’s analyst dropped his rating, though he did slightly raise his price target to $15.

Right now, only 30% of analysts covering Rivian stock have a Buy rating, compared to the S&P 500 average of 55%. The average price target is $15, which suggests there’s still some optimism—but investors aren’t exactly lining up.

At this point, all eyes are on the R2. Rivian’s next-generation, more affordable SUV is expected to be a game-changer, but it won’t hit the market until 2026. Until then, we’re in for a bit of a waiting game. Rivian has the cash to keep going, but it needs to prove it can keep demand strong in an increasingly competitive EV market.