The Rivian R1S will begin shipping to customers in just a few months.

        Courtesy of Rivian

Electric truck maker Rivian Automotive reported a bigger-than-expected quarterly loss, but more importantly maintained its full-year production estimates. The stock wobbled as investors digested the news. Rivian (ie: RIVN) reported an adjusted loss per share of about $1.62 on $364 million in sales for the second quarter. Wall Street was looking for a loss of about $1.61 a share on about $336 million in sales. The company burned through about $1.6 billion in cash. This, however, was a little better than expected. Analysts predicted the company would burn through about $1.8 billion in cash. The numbers, frankly, look okay. Rivian’s stock fell about 4% immediately after the results were released. They broke through those lows and were down 0.9% in early trading on Friday. Shares had a strong session Thursday to close at $38.95, up more than 4%, while the S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average both ended the day little changed. Investors didn’t seem too disheartened by the results. After the drop, shares bounced as high as $39.79 in after-hours trading. The stock settled on Friday at $38.60. Investors can expect more volatility in Friday’s trading. Options markets implied the stock would move about 12%, up or down, after the results were released. Shares jumped 18% after the company reported first-quarter numbers. More important even than profits at this point in the company’s life is delivery guidance. Rivian still plans to deliver about 25,000 vehicles for the full year. That leaves about 19,300 to be shipped to customers in the last six months of the year. Achieving this goal will require overcoming supply chain challenges, such as semiconductor shortages, that have plagued the entire auto industry. “While we continue to manage supply chain constraints, we are encouraged by the progress we are making, which is important for us to be able to add a second AGM shift towards the end of this quarter,” said Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe. conference call about the company’s earnings. A second shift means higher production rates. The electric truck startup produced 4,401 vehicles in the second quarter, up from 2,553 produced in the first quarter. “Equally important is the continued strong demand for our products,” added the CEO. As of June 30, Rivian had approximately 98,000 orders for its R1T and R1S electric vehicles. That’s up from about 90,000 orders in early May. Deliveries in the first half of 2022 totaled around 5,700 vehicles. Through Thursday’s trading, shares have fallen about 62% this year, while the S&P 500 and Dow are down about 12% and 8%, respectively. Write to Al Root at [email protected]