Rivian Stock Is Surging Thanks to Amazon

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Stock of electric-truck start-up

Rivian Automotive

is rising, and

Amazon.com

is the reason. The online giant has begun delivering packages with Rivian delivery vans.

On Thursday, Amazon (ticker: AMZN) announced the rollout of the vehicles. “In addition to being sustainable, these new vehicles are also great for drivers,” said CEO Andy Jassy in a news release. “They were designed with driver input and feedback along the way, and they’re among the safest and most comfortable delivery vehicles on the road today.”

Rivian (ticker: RIVN) stock added 4.3% Thursday, closing at $34.13. Shares traded up as much as 6% earlier in the day. The

S&P 500
and

Dow Jones Industrial Average
added 1% and 0.5%, respectively.

The initial rollout is just a start. Amazon plans to have 100,000 Rivian vans on roads by 2030.

Amazon plans to buy other EVs from other auto makers as well, but Rivian is a key partner. Amazon has been working with Rivian for years. Amazon is also a large shareholder in the EV start-up, with a stake of about 18%.

Rivain and Amazon didn’t say how many vehicles have been delivered yet. That would be an important data point for Rivian. The company is working hard to ramp up production of both the delivery vans and its electric truck, the R1T.

Rivian produced 4,401 vehicles in the second quarter. That was a little better than Wall Street expected. For full-year 2022, Rivian plans to deliver about 25,000 vehicles.

Year to date, Rivian stock is down about 68%. Inflation and rising interest rates have sapped investor enthusiasm for start-up stocks. Rivian has also had more trouble than expected ramping up production. At the start of the year, Wall Street expected the company to deliver closer to 40,000 units in 2022.

Write to Al Root at [email protected]