NEW YORK, May 30, 2026, 10:03 EDT
- Rivian finished Friday at $16.30, gaining 7.24%. Shares were up about 14.6% for the holiday-shortened week.
- Rivian is starting R2 order invites, first customer hand-offs, and demo rides on June 9.
- U.S. safety officials have started a preliminary investigation into 114,922 Rivian R1S and R1T vehicles because of a possible problem with the rear toe-link.
Rivian Automotive shares ended the week with a strong jump on Friday, closing at $16.30. Investors rotated back into the EV maker ahead of first customer deliveries for its cheaper R2 SUV.
The clock is a factor. U.S. stock trading is closed over the weekend, with Nasdaq’s normal hours set for Monday to Friday, 9:30 a.m. to 4 p.m. Eastern. That means traders will see Rivian’s next move on Monday, June 1.
Rivian said May 27 that it will begin sending order invitations, first customer deliveries, and demo drives for the R2 on June 9. It said invitations will be sent in batches as deliveries pick up, with timing of the reservation and location of delivery as key factors.
The stock kept climbing after the Memorial Day holiday, closing at $14.39 Tuesday, $14.70 Wednesday, $15.20 Thursday and $16.30 on Friday. Volume hit about 59.3 million shares Friday, Twelve Data said.
The Nasdaq Composite added 0.2% Friday, gaining 2.4% this week. The S&P 500 notched a ninth straight weekly advance, its longest streak since 2023, AP market data shows. That topped the broader tape.
Rivian’s R2 is a key product for the company as it tries to reach a broader market outside its luxury R1 trucks and SUVs. The model is expected to go up against Tesla’s Model Y, sources told Reuters. Lucid is also developing a midsize EV around the $50,000 price point.
Rivian’s R2 could “materially boost sales” and help “capture additional EV market share” thanks to its lower price and autonomy features, Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard said after the company’s recent results, according to Reuters. CEO RJ Scaringe told reporters the company is working on R2 versions it hasn’t shown yet: “There are other variants of R2, which we haven’t shown.” Reuters
Rivian is sticking to its target for 62,000 to 67,000 deliveries this year, the company said April 30, citing the R2 launch. First-quarter revenue came in at $1.38 billion, up about 11%, beating Wall Street estimates. The adjusted core loss was $472 million, a smaller loss than analysts had forecast.
But the issue isn’t simple. The National Highway Traffic Safety Administration started a preliminary probe into 114,922 Rivian vehicles after two owners reported left rear toe link separation while driving, with one ending in a crash, Reuters reported. Rivian said its internal data showed the joints worked as designed and claimed the two owner reports did not point to the joint as the problem.
Production risk is another issue. Chief Financial Officer Claire McDonough told Reuters that the R2 will drag on margins at first, though later it should help. Margin is what’s left after production, before other costs. Chief Operating Officer Javier Varela said the biggest risk is with the supply chain, not in-house. He said the company has “boots on the ground” at key supplier sites. Reuters
Looking to the week ahead, traders are watching if the rally can last as June 9 approaches, if early R2 setups signal strong demand, and if regulators or the company say more about the toe-link review. The stock is up. Scale is still an open question.
