Rivian reported Q1 2026 results on April 30. Production totaled 10,236 vehicles and deliveries reached 10,365. Revenue came in at approximately $1.4 billion, an 11 percent increase from Q1 2025. Gross margin was 9 percent, producing $119 million in gross profit. Automotive gross profit posted a $62 million loss, compared to $92 million profit in Q1 2025, driven by a $100 million decline in automotive regulatory credit sales and lower production volumes. The adjusted EBITDA loss was $472 million. The quarter ended with R2 production underway at the Normal, Illinois facility and the first employee deliveries completed.
Software and services produced stronger results: $473 million in revenue, up 49 percent year over year, and $181 million in gross profit. Around $282 million of that revenue came from the Volkswagen joint venture. Rivian ended the quarter with $4.8 billion in cash. VW transferred $1 billion in exchange for equity after winter testing milestones were cleared. Uber is expected to contribute $300 million upon signing the partnership agreement, with an additional $250 million tied to robo-taxi development milestones. A Department of Energy loan of up to $4.5 billion covers the Georgia plant construction. Total expected liquidity and capital through 2026 is approximately $8 billion; including the DOE loan, the figure reaches around $13.6 billion.
The Georgia plant news drew the most analyst attention. Rivian increased first-phase annual production capacity by 50 percent, from 200,000 to 300,000 units. Combined with Normal, total capacity will reach 515,000 units. Georgia production is targeted to start in late 2028. A tornado hit the Normal plant two weeks before the call; management confirmed damage did not affect guidance. Full-year delivery guidance of 62,000 to 67,000 vehicles was reiterated, with Q2 expected between 9,000 and 11,000. Public R2 deliveries, following the employee rollout, are expected around June. On the technology side, the in-house RAP1 autonomy chip runs at 800 trillion operations per second with two chips per vehicle, a roughly 4x improvement over the Nvidia-based platform it replaces. Point-to-point autonomous capability is targeted for consumer vehicles by the end of 2026.
Bottom line: R2 is moving, Georgia is expanding, the software business is outgrowing the vehicle business, and the cash position is substantial. The autonomy roadmap is the longer-duration wager, and Q1 suggests Rivian is staying on it.