Amazon is Rivian’s biggest shareholder and an early backer of the electric-vehicle maker
Rivian Automotive Inc.’s stock fell more than 3% Monday after news that the electric-vehicle maker and Amazon.com Inc. are discussing possible changes to their deal for electric delivery vans.
Citing people familiar with the matter, the Wall Street Journal reported Monday that the companies are in talks to end the exclusivity part of their electric-van deal. The talks started after Amazon’s order for the year was at the low end of the previous range, the report said.
A Rivian RIVN, -3.04% spokesperson said the two companies are in discussions. “We continue to work closely together and are navigating a changing economic climate, similar to many companies,” she said. “The relationship we have with Amazon is a very positive one.”
Rivian and Amazon AMZN, +1.87% inked a deal in 2019 to sell all of the EV maker’s last-mile delivery vans to Amazon, which was building up its own last-mile delivery systems in an effort to rely less on logistics companies such as FedEx Corp. FDX, -1.89% and United Parcel Service Inc. UPS, +0.38%.
Amazon invested $700 million in Rivian as one of the EV maker’s major early backers. It is Rivian’s biggest shareholder, according to FactSet, with a 17% stake that currently worth more than $2 billion.
Rivian has been under pressure to rev up production and cut costs, and last month the company disappointed Wall Street by missing revenue expectations for its fourth quarter and revealing struggles with parts shortages and other manufacturing hiccups.
Rivian shares have lost 63% in the last 12 months, compared with a loss of around 7% for the S&P 500 SPX, -0.15%.