'Next Tesla' tag takes Rivian to $90-billion value without sales

Rivian Automotive reached a market value of $90 billion two days after its initial public offering, drawing comparisons to Tesla. 

But there are stark differences: When Tesla went public in 2010, the Elon Musk-led firm disclosed $93 million in revenue and losses far below the $1 billion Rivian reported for the first half. What’s more, Tesla’s initial market capitalization was about $2 billion and didn’t reach $90 billion until 2020.  

Eleven years later, Rivian is the world’s fifth-largest automaker by market cap having delivered only a few electric vehicles to customers. After gaining 29 per cent in their first day of trading, Rivian shares rose 5.5 per cent in Thursday premarket trading, vaulting its valuation past General Motors Co.

“Along with the IPO of Lucid the race to be the ‘next Tesla’ is well underway,” Ben Laidler, eToro global market strategist, wrote in a note. 

“Rivian’s valuation makes it a legitimate option for institutional investors who have previously only had Tesla to play the electric vehicle space,” Nicholas Colas, co-founder of DataTrek Research, wrote in a note.