Rivian tops Q2 estimates, posts $179 million gross profit

Rivian delivered a stronger than expected second quarter, beating Wall Street estimates on both revenue and earnings while lowering its planned spending for the rest of 2026.

For the second quarter, Rivian reported revenue of $1.66 billion, comfortably ahead of analyst estimates of roughly $1.57 billion. Adjusted earnings also came in better than expected, with a loss of $0.47 per share, while adjusted EBITDA improved to -$379 million, significantly better than forecasts. Free cash flow was negative $849 million, also outperforming expectations.

The company posted $179 million in gross profit – another important milestone in its path toward profitability. Of that, its automotive division recorded a $36 million gross loss, while software and services generated a $215 million gross profit.

Alongside its earnings beat, Rivian narrowed its full-year adjusted EBITDA loss forecast to $1.8 billion to $2.0 billion, improving from its previous range of $1.8 billion to $2.1 billion. The company also reduced planned capital expenditures by $250 million, now expecting to spend $1.7 billion to $1.8 billion this year.

Rivian also maintained its previously increased delivery guidance of 65,000 to 70,000 vehicles for 2026.

One of the biggest highlights of Rivian’s second quarter was the launch of the R2 SUV. CEO RJ Scaringe said early demand has been stronger than Rivian anticipated.

“We had our own set of projections as to what we thought the conversion [rate] would be for those Launch variants, and it’s meaningfully higher. So the conversion rate is much higher than our own internal expectations, which is fantastic.” (via Yahoo Finance)

The R2 is widely viewed as Rivian’s most important vehicle to date. With lower production costs than the larger R1 models, the midsize SUV is expected to play a key role in improving the company’s financial performance. However, Scaringe said that Rivian will need to build more than the 160,000 vehicles its Normal, Illinois plant can produce annually before it can achieve sustained profitability.

Rivian finished the quarter with approximately $5.3 billion in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, up from $4.8 billion at the end of the first quarter. The company also expects its cash reserves to receive another boost later this year through $1 billion in financing tied to its Volkswagen software joint venture, along with a separate $250 million equity investment from its partnership with Uber.