Rivian stock is on fire. Here's why

 

Investors who clung to Rivian stock (RIVN) over the past few months are now getting rewarded. 

The EV maker's stock is on fire, up almost 90% in the past nine sessions. On Monday, Rivian shares closed at $25.51, almost double their closing price of $13.45 on June 26. 

Shares have been buoyed by positive catalysts over the past week, including Rivian's production and delivery targets. Rivian recently reaffirmed "it is on track to deliver on the 50,000 annual production guidance previously provided."

'Worst is in the rearview mirror'

Rivian's reaffirmation of its delivery goals helped the stock get a price target increase to $30 from $25 by Wedbush Securities.

"Production coming out of the gate — it was excuses. It was one step forward, two steps back for four or five quarters. Now [they] finally turned the corner, and I think the worst is in the rearview mirror," Wedbush analyst Dan Ives told Yahoo Finance on Monday.

"From a valuation perspective, $30 could be a base case," he added.

Rivian's trajectory has been rocky following a spectacular IPO in November 2021, when shares traded as high as $179 each at the height of investor sentiment over electric vehicles and the overall stock market.

Shares touched an all-time intraday low of $11.26 on April 26 of this year.

Some of the stock's recent upward movement can also be attributed to investors who bet that the price would go lower. Short interest on Rivian currently sits at 12.34% of the float, according to data analytics firm S3 Partners.

"Most of RIVN’s price appreciation occurred within the last several weeks. And as a result, we have been seeing short covering in the stock," Ihor Dusaniwsky, managing director of S3 Partners told Yahoo Finance on Monday.

Electric vehicle stocks have been mostly on an upward trend for weeks now after the S&P 500 entered a new bull market led by enthusiasm over the prospects of artificial intelligence.

EV stocks joined in on the market rally as investors anticipated the Federal Reserve would temporarily pause its aggressive rate hikes on the heels of cooling inflation data.

Valuations for companies that have yet to show a profit have come down considerably since the Federal Reserve started tightening monetary policy over a year ago. Rivian shares are currently trading about 75% lower than their $103.32 level at the start of January 2022. Supply chain challenges last year initially hindered Rivian's production targets, also sending the stock lower. 

Some of the smaller electric vehicle players have yet to recuperate from their downward trajectory. Lordstown Motors (RIDE) recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy, highlighting the rise and fall of EV startups whose stocks went to the moon and back during the pandemic.