Much of the recent good news about Rivian has only been tangentially accretive to the luxury EV maker’s bottom line, but on Thursday, April 2, Rivian gave investors the best news they could hope for. The company reported delivering more vehicles between January and March than analysts had expected.
On March 19, Rivian and Uber revealed a partnership in which Uber will invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian and deploy as many as 50,000 autonomous R2 vehicles on its ride-hailing platform in two years.
“We couldn’t be more excited about this partnership with Uber — it will help accelerate our path to level 4 autonomy to create one of the safest and most convenient autonomous platforms in the world,” Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe said.
Last week, analysts at JPMorgan published a note praising the deal as “mostly positive,” as the extra cash will come in handy as Rivian navigates what the analysts described as a “seemingly increasingly structurally unprofitable” market for electric vehicles.
Driven by a strong first half of the year, Rivian closed 2025 with an annual gross profit of $144 million as revenue increased 8% to about $5.4 billion, but to JPMorgan’s point, much of that profit was driven by its software and services segment, since Rivian’s automotive business lost $432 million last year.
Rivian stock jumps after topping industry Q1 delivery expectations
Rivian produced 10,236 vehicles in the first quarter ending March 31, 2026, and delivered 10,365 during the same period, according to its latest 8K filing.
The production and delivery numbers were in line with the company’s expectations but topped consensus market estimates of 9,678, according to Visible Alpha as cited by Reuters. Additionally, the company reaffirmed its full-year delivery range between 62,000 and 67,000 vehicles.
U.S. electric vehicle sales were having a record-setting year as buyers flocked to dealerships to take advantage of the government tax credit of up to $7,500 that was set to expire at the end of September 2025.
Related: Rivian and Lucid can operate like Tesla after new legislative win
Once October hit, U.S. EV sales immediately fell off a cliff.
Dealers across all brands sold 74,835 electric vehicles in the U.S. in October 2025, according to Cox Automotive data, representing a 48.9% year-over-year decrease.
“Buyers rushed to secure incentives before the deadline, but once it passed, momentum slowed,” Cox noted. “Inventories climbed quickly, and pricing shifted upward for both new and used EVs, reflecting a market in transition.”
U.S. car buyers purchased 90 different EV models in the third quarter, but only nine sold more than 10,000 units.
Tesla Model Y and Model 3 were top sellers, moving more than 114,000 and 53,000 vehicles, respectively. GM’s own Chevy Equinox sold just under 25,000.
However, those three models were outliers.
“The vast majority of EVs sell at a rate of far less than 2,000 units a month, or 6,000 units a quarter. In the volume-driven business of automotive manufacturing, low volume is the enemy; EV profitability remains a distant dream for nearly every automaker,” according to Cox Automotive.
Dealers across all brands sold 74,835 electric vehicles in the U.S. in October 2025, representing a 48.9% year-over-year decrease.
Rivian unveils updated AI strategy at Autonomy
According to an SEC filing last month, Rivian no longer expects positive EBITDA by 2027, due to increased research and development spending on autonomous driving resulting from the Uber deal.
Rivian understands that to compete with Tesla, it must be more than just a car company; it must also be a technology leader.
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Tesla Full Self-Driving (Supervised) is an industry-leading advanced driver assistance system, and Rivian believes it has the tech to surpass FSD.
Rivian states that it is investing in hardware and compute infrastructure, developing an advanced, end-to-end AI autonomy system that scales, and harnessing a “shared data foundation” that will transform the ownership experience for its customers.
During its Autonomy & AI Day in December, Rivian introduced the Gen 3 Autonomy Computer, its third-generation compute platform, which it says will have the “leading combination of vehicle sensors and inference available in North America.”
The Gen 3 Autonomy Computer can process 5 billion pixels per second, thanks to the Rivian Autonomy Processor, its proprietary silicon chip that Rivian claims is among the first multi-chip modules used in high-compute automotive applications.
The company also shared that it is integrating LiDAR into its fleet, starting with future R2 models, marking another difference from Tesla. Musk has called LiDAR expensive and unnecessary.
LiDAR (light detection and ranging) uses laser lights to measure distances and create more precise 3D maps, and Rivian says the tech “provides detailed, three-dimensional spatial data and redundant sensing,” adding another layer of safety to its system.
At the time, Rivian said its vehicles would achieve point-to-point, hands-free navigation by March of this year.
Related: J.P.Morgan tweaks its bearish Rivian stock outlook after Uber deal