Rivian Automotive(NASDAQ: RIVN) stock is falling off a cliff -- it was trading 10% lower as of 10:30 a.m. ET Friday. The electric vehicle (EV) stock has now lost a whopping 33% in just two days and has fallen 55% already in 2024, as of this writing.
Ouch.
The markets believed Rivian would be able to turn things around in 2024 and ramp up production swiftly, but the EV maker just confirmed its struggles are far from over yet. Analysts are now slashing their price targets and investors dumping the stock, fast and furious.
UBS analyst drops a Rivian shocker
Several analysts have downgraded Rivian stock since yesterday, with UBS joining the brigade this morning. In fact, UBS analyst Joseph Spak, who had a buy rating on the stock earlier, has now cut it to sell with a price target of only $8 a share. It's a steep downgrade as Spak saw Rivian stock heading to $24 per share.
With the global EV market slowing down, Spak sees little promise in Rivian's current strategy. The analyst's price target of $8 per share is also one of the lowest among the analysts covering the EV stock. Blame Rivian's latest numbers and outlook for the pessimism.
Rivian reported a solid 167% year-over-year growth in revenue for its fourth quarter, with production and deliveries rising nearly 75% each year. The numbers, however, look morbid sequentially. Rivian's production rose just about 7.5%, while its deliveries fell 10%.
Rivian is clearly struggling to produce and sell vehicles, and that's also evident in its outlook for 2024 -- it expects to produce only 57,000 vehicles this year, flat over 2022. The company will also focus on cutting costs, including reducing its workforce, this year.
Is Rivian stock a buy, sell, or hold now?
There's something Rivian just said that caught my attention -- its order book has shrunk over time instead of growing, and the company confirmed it has seen order cancellations because of "macro and customer factors." Put simply, the endless wait to get deliveries forced many customers to cancel their orders.
Where things stand now, there's little reason to buy Rivian stock. There's no clarity on demand for its EVs, and a poor production outlook for 2024 reflects the challenges Rivian is facing in attracting new buyers. When even sales fail to pick up for a loss-making EV start-up, there's no point speculating when or if it can turn a profit. There are better EV stocks out there if you're an opportunist and want to take advantage of this EV downturn to buy stocks for the long term.
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Neha Chamaria has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
