NEW YORK, December 31, 2025, 07:29 ET — Premarket
- Rivian shares edged lower in premarket trade after a 5.2% drop in the prior session.
- EV peers Tesla and Lucid were also down ahead of Tesla’s quarterly deliveries due Friday.
- Thin year-end trading and a New Year’s Day market holiday are sharpening focus on 2026 EV demand signals.
Rivian Automotive shares slipped in premarket trading on Wednesday, extending losses from the prior session as investors headed into the final trading day of 2025 with fresh anxiety about U.S. electric-vehicle demand.
The stock’s early move comes in a quiet, holiday-shortened week when price swings can look bigger than the headlines behind them. U.S. markets are closed on Thursday for New Year’s Day, compressing positioning into Wednesday’s session. 1
Sentiment across EV names has also been tied to Tesla’s quarterly deliveries report due on Friday. Reuters reported investors are bracing for a fourth-quarter decline after U.S. tax credits — a subsidy that lowers the effective purchase price — expired in September and competition intensified. Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu said the drop would be “driven largely by sales in North America and Europe.” 2
Rivian was down about 0.7% at $19.46 in premarket trading, after ending Tuesday at $19.59. The stock fell 5.2% in the previous regular session, according to MarketWatch data. 3
Tesla shares were down about 0.3% before the open, while Lucid Group was little changed, pointing to a softer tone for the EV group rather than an isolated move in Rivian. 4
Rivian’s stock has been volatile this month after the company showcased an autonomy and AI push, including a shift toward a custom self-driving chip and a paid driver-assistance feature set. Analysts have tied longer-term optimism to the more affordable R2 model line that Rivian has said is slated to launch in the first half of 2026. 5
With no new company filings or product announcements moving across the tape Wednesday morning, traders have treated Rivian as a high-beta EV name that can amplify sector mood swings. That dynamic tends to intensify when liquidity thins into the end of the year.
Investors are watching for demand read-throughs from Tesla’s delivery report and for any evidence that price cuts, incentives and shifting model mixes are changing the EV growth trajectory going into 2026. Rate expectations also remain a key driver for unprofitable or early-profitability companies, which can trade like long-duration assets when bond yields move.
For Rivian specifically, the next hard catalyst is its fourth-quarter results. Zacks expects Rivian to report earnings on Feb. 19, after the market close, though the company can still update timing. 6
Between now and then, investors will look for clues on deliveries, gross margin progress and cash use as Rivian prepares for the R2 launch cycle. Any updates on software features and paid driver-assistance uptake are also likely to be closely parsed because they can lift revenue per vehicle without requiring more factory output.
