Rivian third-quarter earnings beat estimates as software revenue, R2 deliveries rise

Rivian Automotive beat Wall Street's third-quarter earnings expectations as it ramped up production of its new R2 entry-level SUV that the company has promised investors will lead the company to profitability.

Here's how Rivian performed in the period ended Sept. 30, compared with average estimates compiled by LSEG:

The electric vehicle maker also revised its 2026 guidance to mark expected improvements in its vehicle deliveries, pre-tax adjusted earnings and capital expenditures.

The new guidance calls for a pre-tax adjusted loss of between $1.75 billion and $1.85 billion — a $100 million improvement at the midpoint from its prior guidance — vehicle deliveries of between 67,000 and 70,000 units, up from at least 65,000; and capital expenditures of between $1.4 billion and $1.5 billion, $300 million less at the midpoint.

Rivian attributed the improvement in its pre-tax adjusted earnings guidance to better-than-expected revenue related to its sales of regulatory credits, an IEEPA tariff refund receivable in the third quarter and its expected increase in vehicle deliveries.

The R2 — the first deliveries of which arrived to customers in June — has become Rivian's best-selling model and was responsible for "much of the gain quarter-over-quarter," the company said.

Rivian delivered a record 19,248 units from July through September.

The EV maker remains unprofitable overall but continued to narrow its losses during the quarter. The company reported a net loss attributable to common stockholders of $913 million, compared with a loss of $1.17 billion during the third quarter of 2025.

Rivian's gross profit, which is closely monitored by investors, was $176 million during the third quarter, up from $24 million a year earlier. Its adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization was a loss of $435 million, a $167 million improvement from the same period last year.

The company reported that its software and services segment continues to grow, generating $605 million in revenue and a gross profit of $256 million, a 42% margin. That compares to its automotive operations, which recorded nearly $1.55 billion in revenue and a gross loss of $80 million.

Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe has said the company will reach profitability this year on a per-unit production basis with the R2, a smaller and less expensive sibling to its current luxury R1S SUV. But he said the company needs to scale beyond current R2 production plans of 160,000 units in order to achieve profitability.

Scaringe said Thursday that the R2 will continue to assist with the company's gross profit.

"That ramp-up is critical for us getting to positive gross margin on R2 and that ultimately will contribute to positive gross margin for the business," he told CNBC's Phil LeBeau during an interview.

Rivian on Thursday reconfirmed its cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments balance was $5.5 billion, up from $5.3 billion to end the second quarter.