Is Rivian Stock Your Ticket to Becoming a Millionaire?

Key Points

• Rivian has achieved a great deal of success as it looks to build a sustainably profitable electric vehicle business.

• Despite hitting important milestones, Rivian remains mired in red ink.

• Rivian faces competition today that Tesla didn’t have to deal with.

• 10 stocks we like better than Rivian Automotive ›

After Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA) proved that a start-up electric car company could take on the traditional automakers, Wall Street jumped into action. That was when Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) came public, to much fanfare. Fast forward a few years to the current day, and Rivian’s stock price has fallen some 90% from its all-time highs. Is this a diamond in the rough that could turn you into a millionaire in a Tesla-style success story, or should you have more modest expectations?

Rivian has done big things

To give credit where credit is due, Rivian has achieved a huge amount of success in a very short period of time. It basically went from an idea — making electric vehicles (EVs) — to an operating business with a well-respected EV truck and an EV delivery van used widely by retail powerhouse Amazon (NASDAQ: AMZN). That isn’t something that could have been achieved if Rivian didn’t have its act together.

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Image source: Rivian.

Notably, in late 2024, Rivian hit a key milestone, achieving a modest gross profit for the first time. While a gross profit only means that it was able to generate more revenue from selling its vehicles than it cost to produce them, that is a key step toward positive earnings.

The modest gross profit came after Rivian hit another important goal, scaled production. It delivered more than 10,000 vehicles in the second quarter of 2025, which is a substantial number. It also has a new truck called the R2 coming out next year, which will be geared to the mass market. That should help to further increase volume, which will allow Rivian to spread its costs over even more vehicles.

In many ways, Rivian is following in Tesla’s footsteps. Given the massive stock price advance Tesla has made over its history, some investors might see Rivian as a second chance to catch a little of the Tesla opportunity they might have missed. Don’t get overly excited.

Rivian has a long way to go

With a well-respected product and key partners like tech giant Amazon and automaker Volkswagen (which has agreed to provide fresh capital to Rivian based on Rivian’s ability to meet certain business goals), Rivian seems like it will establish itself as a sustainably profitable business. However, this goal is still likely to be at least a few years away, given the need to invest in the business and research and development right now. Rivian could help you reach a seven-figure net worth, but it isn’t likely to do so quickly.

Moreover, the competition set today is much larger than it was when Tesla entered the auto market. At the time, Tesla was basically the only company making EVs. Today, there are a number of sizable EV makers. Virtually all of the traditional automakers are in the space, too. Even if Rivian is successful, it could still just produce a modest profit at the bottom of its income statement, thanks to the changed competitive landscape.

That said, even that outcome would require strong execution. Although Rivian has lived up to its goals, for the most part, so far, there’s no guarantee that it will continue to do so in the future. If the company starts missing its targets, investors are likely to turn deeply negative on the stock.

How much more negative could they get after a 90% price decline? Well, the stock happens to be up nearly 23% over the past year, which is notably better than the nearly 17% gain of the S&P 500 index (SNPINDEX: ^GSPC). Even after a 90%+ decline, there’s still ample room for a deep drawdown, as investors appear to have priced in a lot of good news in recent days.

Risk takers may find it attractive

It probably wouldn’t be a great idea to bet your house on Rivian. But it has achieved a great deal in a short period of time, with material opportunity for more success in the future. The problem is that it could also fall short of its goals and flame out, like many upstart EV makers have already done. If you see the execution strength and want to add Rivian to a diversified portfolio, it could help you reach millionaire status. Just go in recognizing the risk, which is material, and the time period you need to consider, which is long.

That’s why more conservative investors will probably want to sit on the sidelines for now. It makes a great deal of sense to wait at least until the R2 has been brought to market, so investors can assess how well the new car does with consumers.

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Reuben Gregg Brewer has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Amazon and Tesla. The Motley Fool recommends Volkswagen Ag. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.

The views and opinions expressed herein are the views and opinions of the author and do not necessarily reflect those of Nasdaq, Inc.