RIVN stock climbs as Rivian Automotive delivery numbers impress after TSLA disappointment

Rivian Automotive (RIVN) has garnered a gain of 9.1% in Tuesday's premarket after the maker known for its lineup of EV trucks reiterated delivery figures that many observers thought it would miss. In Monday's post-market, Rivian announced that it expected to meet its goal of delivering 25,000 vehicles in 2022, a number that it has stuck to despite logistical glitches throughout the year. RIVN stock is now trading at $34.80, well above its May 11 low of $19.25, but shares remain down 

Rivian stock news

Rivian manufactured 7,363 vehicles in the quarter ending in September and delivered 6,584 units. This was a largescale improvement over the previous quarter's production of 4,401 units and deliveries of 4,467. This amounts to a quarter-to-quarter rise in production of 67% and a 47% increase in deliveries. The figures show that management's attempt at ramping up production at its Illinois factory seems to be working.

The RIVN delivery beat impressed the market as it came right on the heels of Tesla (TSLA) missing its much bigger delivery target by 14,000. Tesla delivered 343,830 vehicles in the third quarter, which was still up more than 42% YoY despite missing Wall Street forecasts.

Rivian has dealt with much higher costs for raw materials this year and has stated in the past that its operating loss would end the year much worse than expected. 

Truist Securities coming out with its Buy rating last week now looks wise. Despite its many failings this year, analysts said the upstart was positioning itself for long-term growth and slapped an optimistic $65 price target on the stock. At the time this meant more than 100% upside in the next 12 months. The consensus among analysts calls for revenue at the automaker to rise 238% in 2023 to $6.16 billion.

Rivian stock forecast

Despite steadily climbing since its all-time low in May, RIVN stock is down 69% year to date, not counting the premarket advance. At $34.80, Rivian is sitting right on top of the 9-day moving average. A close above it tells us that Rivian bulls want this rally to continue. There has been much talk of an October bear market rally over the past week, and it looks like this may be the case with Rivian. The September downturn was awfully pessimistic, and many traders have begun looking for entries. Just take a look at the normally bearish Michael Burry's tweet below:

Bulls will try to push RIVN stock to overtake the 21-day moving average as well this week. The longer time frame average is now at $35.50. From there the focus will be on the $40 price level. That level should be much harder to push past as it served as a double top that began in mid-August and finished in mid-September. Support registers in the area between $31 and $32.

RIVN daily chart