Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) has fallen more than 65% so far this year, led by supply-chain inefficiencies, ramp-up challenges, lowered production guidance and inflation. During third-quarter earnings, however, the electric vehicle (EV) company maintained its full-year production guidance of 25,000 vehicles and increased production by 67% quarter-over-quarter. Since the start of production, Rivian has produced more than 15,000 vehicles.
Unsurprisingly, Rivian is still massively unprofitable, reporting a Q3 net loss of $1.7 billion compared to a loss of $1.2 billion a year ago. That brings the total yearly loss to $5 billion as of Sept. 30. On the bright side, though, Rivian has cash and cash equivalents of $13.8 billion, which is expected to “fund its operations through 2025.”
Rivian currently has over 114,000 preorders for its R1S and R1T models, up from 90,000 vehicles in early May. The company also has a 100,000 vehicle order for its electric delivery van (EDV) from Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN), with some EDVs already having been delivered. Former Amazon CEO Jeff Bezos previously stated that he expects 100,000 Amazon EDVs on the road by 2024.
Now, Rivian’s main goal is to ramp up production, as the demand is certainly there. The company recently added another shift to its facility in Normal, Illinois, helping it achieve its production guidance. CEO R.J. Scaringe had the following to say about the company’s ramp-up:
“The ramp curve has been much faster than on the first shift. We’re going through that ramp now […] We are very much focused on ramping the second shift and going into 2023 strong.”
With that in mind, let’s take a look at the investors betting big on RIVN stock.
5 Investors Betting Big on RIVN Stock
Tracking institutional ownership is important, as these large investors provide liquidity and support for stocks. During the third quarter, 554 13F filers reporting owning RIVN stock, an increase of 24 filers from the prior quarter. In total, those filers own 625.19 million shares, up from 567.11 million shares during Q2. Meanwhile, the institutional put/call ratio sits at 0.73, up from 0.53. That’s equivalent to 16.89 million puts and 23.10 million calls, implying a bullish options stance.
So, let’s take a look at Rivian’s largest shareholders. Note that this list only includes investors that filed a Q3 position update. For example, Global Oryx owns 113.93 million shares, but that figure is only accurate as of Q4 2021.
- Amazon: 158.36 million shares. Amazon’s stake remained unchanged during Q3.
- T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ:TROW): 140.63 million shares. T. Rowe sold 932,366 shares during Q3.
- BlackRock (NYSE:BLK): 46.56 million shares. BlackRock purchased 14.38 million shares during Q3.
- Capital Research Global Investors: 43.37 million shares. Capital Research sold 1.54 million shares during Q3.
- Vanguard: 36.23 million shares. Vanguard purchased 11.48 million shares during Q3.
On the date of publication, Eddie Pan held a long position in AMZN. The opinions expressed in this article are those of the writer, subject to the InvestorPlace.com Publishing Guidelines.
