It isn’t easy to be an electric vehicle maker these days, with U.S. policy shifting back toward combustion-engine cars. Rivian Automotive, however, ended 2025 on a high note and expects to grow in 2026.
On Thursday evening, the EV company reported fourth-quarter gross profit of $120 million from $1.3 billion in sales. Wall Street was looking for essentially a break-even gross profit from $1.2 billion in sales.
Rivian stock was up 16% in after-hours trading at $16.24. Through Thursday trading, Rivian stock was up about 13% over the past 12 months, in line with the S&P 500.
A year ago, Rivian reported a gross profit of about $170 million. Profits fell, but sales a year ago were much higher at $1.7 billion.
Sales and EV deliveries declined. Rivian sold 9,745 cars in the fourth quarter of 2025, down from 14,183 vehicles in the fourth quarter of 2024.
The expiration of the $7,500 federal EV purchase tax credit at the end of September weighed on industry sales. Americans bought about 234,000 all-electric cars in the fourth quarter, down 36% year over year. That is a slide of 46% from the 437,000-plus EVs bought in the third quarter of 2025, just ahead of the expiration of the credit.
The better-than-expected gross profit demonstrates the company’s solid cost control. Rivian isn’t profitable yet, however. It reported a net loss of $804 million in the quarter, which was also better than Street estimates of a $1 billion loss.
Rivian ended the quarter with about $6.7 billion in cash and investments. Wall Street projects cash use of $3.5 billion in 2026.
For 2026, the EV maker expects to deliver between 62,000 and 67,000 cars, up from about 42,000 vehicles sold in 2025. Higher sales are expected as Rivian launches new, lower-priced models. Deliveries are expected in the second quarter. Analysts project 64,000 deliveries, which means management’s guidance is in line with Wall Street’s expectations.
Rivian also expects an Ebitda loss of between $2.1 billion and $1.8 billion, while analysts project a loss of $1.8 billion. Ebitda is short for earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization.
Overall, investors should be pleased with the report. Rivian’s losses will need to narrow eventually, but that will only happen when the company sells more cars, which management expects to do this year.