Dj Cfo Mcdonough Sells 29249 Of Rivian Automotive Inc/De >Rivn

Al Root

Sometimes stocks do seemingly strange things, like shrugging off bad news. Understanding why can requires looking at short-term moves within a longer-term framework.

Take Rivian. Its shares were down 0.2% at $17.20 in premarket trading, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were 0.2% and 0.3% lower, respectively.

Investors might have expected the stock to slide because the National Highway Traffic Safety Administration, or NHTSA, recently posted a recall notice. Rivian is recalling 34,824 vehicles to fix a damaged seat belt pretensioner cable. Rivian will fix the issue with an over-the-air software update and inspect the parts free of charge.

Nearly 35,000 cars is a significant portion of the roughly 155,000 vehicles Rivian has sold over its history. Still, recalls don't move car stocks much. They are a cost of doing business — and the way regulators keep vehicles on roads up-to-date and safe. Millions of vehicles are recalled by dozens of vehicle makers annually.

Ford Motor has recalled more than 12 million vehicles in 138 separate actions so far in 2025. Coming into Wednesday trading, its shares were up 31% year to date.

Recalls are only one factor that can affect a stock. Investors in Ford have been relieved that President Donald Trump's tariffs haven't hurt profits or sales as much as feared.

Coming into Wednesday trading, Rivian stock was up 30% year to date, with a gain of 45% over the past 12 months. That is despite falling expectations for sales and the loss of federal support. Trump's tax and spending bill, passed on July 4, means American car buyers no longer get up to $7,500 off a new EV.

While that doesn't seem like a recipe for a stock to take off, the big picture is that at Tuesday's close, the shares were still down 90% from their record high of almost $180, reached in November 2021, shortly after Rivian's initial public offering.

Around the time of the IPO, Wall Street projected 2026 sales volume of about 380,000 vehicles, according to FactSet. Today, that estimate is closer to 66,000 cars, down from 97,000 vehicles a year ago.

It has been a tough few years for Rivian investors. Still, they feel better about the stock than they did a year ago, despite policy changes and recalls.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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