Rivian stock rises as Cantor calls out attractive entry point
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Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) stockâs steep slide in 2022 is offering investors a promising opportunity at year-end, according to Cantor Fitzgerald analyst Andres Sheppard.

Sheppard started coverage of the stock at a Buy-equivalent rating on Tuesday, citing its âdifferentiated product offering,â support from Amazon (AMZN), and efforts to establish a charging network as key tailwinds. After a nearly 80% decline year to date, these factors are being underappreciated, in his view.

âWe believe this could be a good entry point for new investors,â Sheppard advised.

He assigned a $30 price target to shares alongside the Overweight initiation. Shares of Rivian (RIVN) marked modest gains in premarket trading.

Perhaps tempering the optimism, Mizuho reeled in price targets on not only Rivian (RIVN), but Tesla (TSLA) and NIO Inc. (NIO) due to expectations of slowing global auto sales. While a team of analysts at the Japanese bank led by Vijay Rakesh retained Buy ratings on each, price targets were pulled back across the EV space. For Tesla, the team pulled their target back to $285 from a prior $330, Rivianâs target was reduced to $50 from a prior $58, and NIOâs target was trimmed to $28 from $34. 

âWe see a challenging Auto end-market globally into 2023, driven by high interest rates, energy prices and financing rates affecting affordability, that could overshadow a more constructive auto production outlook as supply chains and production bottlenecks ease,â Rakesh explained. âWhile EVs should continue to grow, high prices and a stretched consumer could be real headwinds.â

That said, he advised Rivian (RIVN) is âbest positionedâ among the group with production ramping into 2023 as supply chains normalize and attractive exposure to the US SUV and truck market. Rakesh also pointed to the significant discount for shares as compared to many EV peers as a key factor in his bullish assessment of the stock.

âWe see RIVN as a pure play and strong early mover in the EV market with a focus on the higher-growth SUV and light truck market and a strong commercial vehicle roadmap beginning with Amazon,â Rakesh advised clients on Tuesday. âRivian is also poised to benefit from improving costs with scale and a well-laid-out path towards further vertical integration giving more control to production and delivery of vehicles, in our view.â
Read more on Morgan Stanleyâs optimistic outlook for the Irvine, California-based automaker.