New York, June 1, 2026, 17:03 (EDT)
Rivian Automotive shares pushed higher Monday, up 3.9% at $16.95 in afternoon trade. Buyers kept coming in ahead of the R2 SUV’s first customer deliveries set for next week. The stock opened at $16.15, hit a high of $17.195, and volume topped 43 million shares. Rivian’s market cap was around $21.2 billion.
Rivian’s R2 launch matters as its first test of scale in the near term. The company so far has sold R1 pickups and SUVs and commercial vans at higher prices. R2 is Rivian’s effort to reach the mass market, where discipline on production and price are bigger factors.
Rivian said last week that it will start sending out invitations for orders and demo drives on June 9, and customers will begin seeing the first R2 vehicles delivered to their driveways. The company said the invitations are going out in batches. Reservation timing and where the car will be delivered are key factors. The first model available to order will be the R2 Performance with Launch Package.
Rivian’s CEO RJ Scaringe said in April the R2 launch would “dramatically expand our market opportunity.” In the same update, Rivian posted Q1 revenue of $1.381 billion, up 11% year over year. Consolidated gross profit came in at $119 million. The company said it delivered 10,365 vehicles and kept its 2026 delivery target at 62,000 to 67,000 vehicles. SEC
Profit is still a problem. Rivian is guiding for an adjusted EBITDA loss between $1.8 billion and $2.1 billion this year. Adjusted EBITDA takes out interest, taxes, depreciation, amortization and some other items. Free cash flow was negative $1.075 billion in Q1. The company had $4.83 billion in cash, equivalents and short-term investments.
Volkswagen Group put $1 billion into Rivian on April 30 after the EV maker hit testing milestones, a filing showed. Volkswagen took 62.9 million Class A shares at $15.90 each—just under where shares closed Monday. The capital drop gives Rivian’s rally some funding support, not just a product angle.
Rivian’s R2 gives it a clearer shot at Tesla’s Model Y market, rather than Lucid’s higher-end approach. The market seemed to notice. On Monday, Tesla shares dropped roughly 4.6%, while Lucid added about 1.8%. Rivian ended up with the edge on the day.
Tech stocks lifted Wall Street a bit higher, with the market holding up despite worries over oil and geopolitics. Growth names got a bit more support as a result.
Rivian’s R2 ramp has been a sticking point for analysts for months. Andrew Rocco, stock strategist at Zacks Investment Research, told Reuters earlier this year that a lot of investors are betting on Rivian to scale up the R2. “The main hurdle is to ensure there are no production issues,” Rocco said. Reuters
The rally depends on what happens next. The U.S. auto safety regulator started a preliminary evaluation on May 26 into 114,922 Rivian R1S and R1T vehicles because a rear toe link could separate while driving. The agency pointed to two reports and one crash, but said there were no injury or fatality incidents. If the R2 rollout is slow, or if Rivian faces higher warranty or service costs, softer EV demand, or another quarter with heavy cash burn, investors could pull the stock lower fast.
Next up is June 9, with traders waiting to see if it delivers a clean launch or more talk about scale. Right now, the market is willing to pay for the transition. Actual results won’t show until someone gets the keys.
