Al Root

Electric-vehicle start-up Rivian Automotive might have the best ability to deal with President Donald Trump's auto tariffs. Investors will get a chance to hear how the company is adapting when Rivian reports first-quarter earnings on Tuesday evening.

For the quarter, Wall Street expects a loss of 74 cents per share, and negative gross-profit margins on sales of $1 billion, according to FactSet.

Rivian produced its first positive quarterly gross profit in the fourth quarter of 2025, which was partly helped by the sale of zero-emission credits. Rivian delivered 14,183 cars in the fourth quarter. Deliveries in the first quarter amounted to 8,640 units.

For the full year, Rivian is guiding deliveries of 46,000 to 51,000 vehicles, below the 51,579 vehicles delivered in 2024.

Updates to guidance will move shares. So will comments about tariffs.

All auto makers have been dealing with Trump tariffs. Ford Motor reported f irst-quarter earnings Monday evening. It suspended full-year financial guidance, estimating a 2025 "gross" tariff impact of $2.5 billion and a "net" tariff impact of $1.5 billion. Ford's prior financial guidance called for a 2025 operating profit of about $7.8 billion, so the $1.5 billion net impact is about 20% of prior guidance.

General Motors trimmed its financial guidance by almost 25%. The midpoint of its 2025 operating profit is now about $11.3 billion, down from $14.7 billion. GM imports about 40% of the cars it sells domestically. Ford imports about 20%.

Chrysler parent Stellantis imports just over 40% of the vehicles its sells domestically. Stellantis suspended its financial guidance at the end of April. Its guidance in February called for positive sales growth and mid-single-digit operating-profit margins.

Tesla doesn't give guidance, and all the cars it sells domestically in the U.S. are made there. It has a lower tariff exposure than most auto makers, but still faces tariffs on some imported parts. Tesla has stopped selling some cars exported to China because of reciprocal tariffs.

Like Tesla, Rivian assembles in the U.S. all the cars it sells domestically. "Rivian may have the cleanest set-up given its relatively small exposure to the tariffs, and prospects for a strong R2 product cycle," wrote Deutsche Bank analyst Edison Yu in a preview report. The R2 is Rivian's lower-price car platform, due to start selling in 2026.

Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard is looking for details about the R2 on the company's conference call as well as "progress with its Volkswagen Joint Venture." Volkswagen is providing capital to Rivian and Rivian is sharing its EV technology.

Both Yu and Sheppard rate Rivian stock at Hold. Yu's price target for Rivian stock is $14, while Sheppard's is $15.

Options markets imply shares will move about 10%, up or down, following earnings. Shares have moved an average of about 4% over the past four quarterly reports. Shares have risen twice and fallen twice over that span.

Rivian stock was down 1.6% in premarket trading on Tuesday, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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May 06, 2025 08:48 ET (12:48 GMT)

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