Is Rivian Investors’ Next Tesla?

Some investors bet that Rivian can become the next Tesla, whose own market cap stands above $1 trillion, while others say It is a bad bet.
U. S. Electric automaker Rivian closed trading yesterday with value nearing $105 billion, two days after completing the largest U.S. IPO since Alibaba in 2014.

Rivian’s products, management and ability to deliver its long list of preorders can decide the company’s future prospects.

The big difference was revealed by AXIOS Magazine as Tesla went public seven years after being founded, having raised less than $500 million in funding. It never hit unicorn status, and its current market cap is 658x its at-IPO value.

Rivian went public 12 years after being founded, having raised over $10 billion in funding. For Rivian to match Tesla’s aftermarket performance, its market cap would need to hit around $69 trillion, however all the rage these days is about inflation.

Tesla, despite being younger than Rivian, had delivered more vehicles at the time of IPO. It also was operating in a much less mature market, whereas both companies now compete with legacy OEMs and a raft of EV startups.

For more consistency and context, Tesla CEO Elon Musk says the real test for newly public electric vehicle startup Rivian will be high volume production and breakeven cashflow.