EV startup Rivian IPO raises $11.9 billion

The Rivian IPO priced an upsized 153 million shares at $78 a share, above the already-raised price range of $72-$74

The Rivian IPO priced above the expected range Tuesday, giving the Electric Vehicle (EV) startup a valuation of $70 billion. The EV startup has applied to trade under the symbol RIVN on the Nasdaq.

The Rivian IPO priced an upsized 153 million shares at $78 a share Tuesday night. That was above the already-raised price range of $72-$74. Rivian had originally planned to offer 135 million shares. The RIVN IPO raised $11.9 billion.

On Friday, Rivian upped the expected price range from $57-$62, then upsized the number of shares Tuesday.

By comparison, EV leader Tesla now has a $1.03 trillion valuation, with the stock price surging over the last several weeks before falling sharply this week.

Among other U.S. automakers vying for EV market share, General Motors has a market valuation of $85.1 billion, and Ford $80 billion as of Nov. 9.

Lucid Motors, which came public earlier this year via a SPAC merger, has a market cap of nearly $72.5 billion.

The Amazon and Ford-backed Rivian's R1T beat Tesla and General Motors, as the EV market for trucks heats up. Rivian says limited R1T pickup deliveries began in September, with its R1S SUV due out by year-end.

The R1T electric pickup starts at around $67,500, before the $7,500 federal tax credit. The seven-seat R1S SUV goes for about $70,000. The preorder launch editions of the two vehicles sold out at the end of 2020.

But Rivian is said to be prioritizing production of electric vans for Amazon. Amazon has ordered 100,000 of Rivian's electric vans. And while Rivian's R1T pickup has grabbed headlines recently, Amazon's vans are more likely to be revenue drivers in the near term. That's why Rivian is reportedly focused on producing hundreds of vans for Amazon this year, while pickup production is nominal.

Amazon revealed in a filing on Oct. 28 that it had a roughly 20% stake in Rivian.

However, Rivian recently updated its website to say it will begin taking orders for its electric delivery vans in 2022 and will deliver them to fleet customers in early 2023, even though it has an exclusive deal to supply Amazon with electric vans for at least four years.

Rivian said in an SEC (U.S. Securities and Exchange Commission) filing that Amazon would have exclusive rights to the delivery van for four years after the initial delivery date. After that period, Amazon would have the right of first refusal for two years over other customers that wanted to buy Rivian vans.