Rivian shares opened at a record low on Monday, down 14%, after reports that Ford will sell part of its stake in the electric vehicle maker.
On Monday, Rivian shares were trading at around $24.77. The share price is far from a record high of $179.5 in November 2021.
Earlier, Ford, which was one of Rivian’s initial shareholders, sold 8 million shares as the stock lock-in period ended on Sunday.
According to Refinitiv data, Ford is Rivian’s fourth largest shareholder with 11.4% stake. In the first-quarter financial report, Ford suffered a $3.1 billion loss, mostly due to a decline in the value of its investment in Rivian.
Rivian is struggling in the highly competitive electric pickup truck market, including competing with the Ford F-150 Lightning. In this electric vehicle segment, they will also compete with the GMC Hummer EV, Tesla Cybertruk, Chevrolet Silverado EV and The Electric RAM 1500 pickup truck.
Rivian himself is facing production constraints due to supply chain bottlenecks. The electric vehicle manufacturer has cut its planned 2022 production in half to 25,000 vehicles due to supply chain issues.
In the first quarter of this year, Rivian only delivered 1,227 cars. The Irvine, California-based company has lost about three-quarters of its value this year.
Amazon, which is Rivian’s second largest shareholder with 17.7% shares, recorded a 59% decline in the value of their investment which was mostly due to its investment in Rivian.
JPMorgan Chase also plans to sell 13 million to 15 million shares of Rivian from an unidentified seller, CNBC reports, at $26.90 per share, similar to Ford’s.
