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Rivian Automotive Inc. late Thursday gave Wall Street its first look into its finances as a public company, reporting a loss that topped $1 billion on rising operating costs as it tries to ramp up vehicle sales.
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said it lost $1.2 billion, or $12.21 a share, in the third quarter, compared with a loss of $288 million, or $2.88 a share, in the year-ago quarter, on higher operating losses, the company said. Sales hit $1 million as it delivered its first few vehicles.
Analysts polled by FactSet expected the company to report a GAAP loss of $12.04 a share on sales of $900,000. Rivian started delivering its first few EVs in September.
The stock fell more than 3% in the extended session after ending the regular trading day down 5.3%.
The company said it had more than 71,000 preorders for its electric pickup truck, the R1, as of Dec. 15.
“We are at a steep part of our climb, but I couldn’t be more grateful,” Chief Executive RJ Scaringe said in a call following results.
Rivian went public with a bang in November, pricing its upsized initial public offering, the largest of the year and seventh largest in the U.S. in nearly 30 years, well above its expected range. The company raised nearly $12 billion.
The first Wall Street takes on the company were mostly positive, and of the 15 analysts covering Rivian polled by FactSet, nine have buy ratings and six have hold ratings.
See also: More electric pickup trucks are coming to market. The question now is who will buy them?
Rivian shares are down more than 6% so far this month, contrasting with gains of more than 4% for the S&P 500 index.
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