By Michael Elkins
Truist Securities initiated coverage of Rivian Automotive Inc (NASDAQ:RIVN) with a Buy rating and $65.00 price target. The electric vehicle company only just began delivering its first vehicles; however, the company has been strategically positioning, raising capital, and building out its vertically integrated ecosystem for over a decade.
An analyst wrote, “As Rivian pushes through the formidable challenges of ramping 4 different vehicles amidst a historically difficult supply chain backdrop, we believe the market will come to see Rivian not just as a successful EV manufacturer with a powerful partner in Amazon, but as a leading example of a next-generation diversified mobility tech powerhouse.”
Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe has built the company from the ground up while bringing together a team with expertise spanning the broad range of the company’s business segments. Rivian also struck it big in its strategic partnership with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN). A powerful partner, customer, and shareholder, the analyst believes that Amazon provides a strategic advantage over EV competitors and helps position Rivian to compete with global incumbent OEMs in the commercial EV market.
The analyst sees Amazon’s initial purchase of 100,000 EDVs through 2030 underwriting steady growth in RIVN’s commercial segment and driving meaningful demand from other fleet owners moving into the latter half of the decade.
Shares of RIVN are down 0.29% in pre-market trading on Thursday.