Rivian Q3 Revenue Tops $2.16B as the R2 Becomes Its Best Seller — but Q4 Must Deliver Up to 28,000 Vehicles

Rivian posted third-quarter earnings on October 29 with revenue growing 38 percent year over year to $2.16 billion, beating analysts' estimates by $160 million. Total deliveries rose 46 percent year over year to a record 19,248 vehicles, boosting year-to-date deliveries to 41,804 vehicles. Adjusted net loss per share narrowed to $0.48 from $0.65 in the year-ago period.

The R2 is the story. CEO RJ Scaringe said the R2 was the company's best-selling vehicle by volume in the third quarter, and analysts believe at least 10,000 R2s have been delivered since its June 2026 launch. Rivian is currently delivering only the top-tier R2 Performance (Launch Package), which starts at $57,990, with the cheaper R2 Premium AWD for $53,990 planned for late 2026 or early 2027, followed by the R2 Standard RWD (Long Range) for $48,490 in early 2027 and the R2 Standard (Base) for $45,000 in late 2027.

Rivian raised its full-year delivery guidance from 65,000-70,000 vehicles to 67,000-70,000 vehicles — which means it will need to deliver roughly 25,000 to 28,000 vehicles in the fourth quarter. That is a steep ramp, and it is why analysts are watching the R2 production rate more than the stock's recent pop: UBS upgraded the shares to Buy, and Jefferies called a 30 percent drop a new entry point, but the guidance math leaves no room for a slow quarter.