Electric vehicle manufacturer Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) reported Q2 CY2026 results beating Wall Street’s revenue expectations, with sales up 27.2% year on year to $1.66 billion. Its GAAP loss of $0.63 per share was 18.9% above analysts’ consensus estimates.

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RJ Scaringe, Rivian Founder and CEO, said: “This quarter we began external deliveries of R2. I believe R2 will be a game changer for our customers and a driver of Rivian’s long-term growth and profitability. This quarter we also hosted over 57,000 demo drives, a Rivian record. The U.S. automotive marketplace is starved for high-quality EV choice, and I believe R2 is an attractively priced option for everyday adventures that will resonate with a broad set of consumers.”

Company Overview

The manufacturer of Amazon’s delivery trucks, Rivian (NASDAQ: RIVN) designs, manufactures, and sells electric vehicles and commercial delivery vans.

Revenue Growth

A company’s long-term sales performance is one signal of its overall quality. Even a bad business can shine for one or two quarters, but a top-tier one grows for years. Luckily, Rivian’s sales grew at an incredible 83.9% compounded annual growth rate over the last four years. Its growth beat the average industrials company and shows its offerings resonate with customers.

We at StockStory place the most emphasis on long-term growth, but within industrials, a stretched historical view may miss cycles, industry trends, or a company capitalizing on catalysts such as a new contract win or a successful product line. Rivian’s annualized revenue growth of 8.3% over the last two years is below its four-year trend, but we still think the results were respectable.

We can dig further into the company’s revenue dynamics by analyzing its number of vehicles delivered, which reached 12,194 in the latest quarter. Over the last two years, Rivian’s vehicles delivered declined by 9.2% annually. Because this number is lower than its revenue growth, we can see the company benefited from price increases.

This quarter, Rivian reported robust year-on-year revenue growth of 27.2%, and its $1.66 billion of revenue topped Wall Street estimates by 7.9%.

Looking ahead, sell-side analysts expect revenue to grow 65.7% over the next 12 months, an improvement versus the last two years. This projection is eye-popping and indicates its newer products and services will fuel better top-line performance.

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Operating Margin

Rivian’s high expenses have contributed to an average operating margin of negative 128% over the last five years. Unprofitable industrials companies require extra attention because they could get caught swimming naked when the tide goes out. It’s hard to trust that the business can endure a full cycle.

On the plus side, Rivian’s operating margin rose over the last five years, as its sales growth gave it operating leverage. Still, it will take much more for the company to reach long-term profitability.

In Q2, Rivian generated a negative 50.4% operating margin.

Earnings Per Share

We track the long-term change in earnings per share (EPS) for the same reason as long-term revenue growth. Compared to revenue, however, EPS highlights whether a company’s growth is profitable.

Although Rivian’s full-year earnings are still negative, it reduced its losses and improved its EPS by 30.8% annually over the last five years. The next few quarters will be critical for assessing its long-term profitability. We hope to see an inflection point soon, especially since it recently diluted shareholders by forming a $5.8 billion joint venture with Volkswagen in November 2024.

Like with revenue, we analyze EPS over a more recent period because it can provide insight into an emerging theme or development for the business.

For Rivian, its two-year annual EPS growth of 34.3% was higher than its five-year trend. We love it when earnings improve, but a caveat is that its EPS is still in the red.

In Q2, Rivian reported EPS of negative $0.63, up from negative $0.97 in the same quarter last year. This print easily cleared analysts’ estimates, and shareholders should be content with the results. Over the next 12 months, Wall Street expects Rivian to improve its earnings losses. Analysts forecast its full-year EPS will improve from negative $2.58 to negative $2.54.

Key Takeaways from Rivian’s Q2 Results

We were impressed by how significantly Rivian blew past analysts’ EBITDA expectations this quarter. We were also excited its revenue outperformed Wall Street’s estimates by a wide margin. Zooming out, we think this quarter featured some important positives. The stock traded up 1.6% to $17.15 immediately following the results.

Rivian may have had a good quarter, but does that mean you should invest right now? When making that decision, it’s important to consider its valuation, business qualities, as well as what has happened in the latest quarter. We cover that in our actionable full research report which you can read here (it’s free).