Biggest stock movers Wednesday: SPOT, RIVN, and more

Stock futures showed caution Wednesday morning, cooling off from a post-election rally as attention turned to crucial CPI data.

Here are some of Wednesday’s biggest stock movers:

Biggest stock gainers

• Rivian Automotive (RIVN) shares surged nearly 10% after formally announcing an agreement with Volkswagen Group (OTCPK:VLKAF) (OTCPK:VWAGY) to form a new joint venture following a major partnership earlier in the year. The joint venture named Rivian and Volkswagen Group Technologies is valued at up to $5.8B and aims to deliver advanced electrical architecture and software for future EVs across all vehicle segments. Headed by Wassym Bensaid (Rivian) and Carsten Helbing (Volkswagen), the JV will leverage Rivian’s tech stack to support the Rivian R2 launch in 2026 and Volkswagen models in 2027, with engineering teams initially based in Palo Alto, CA, and further sites planned in North America and Europe.
• Shares of Spotify (SPOT) advanced 7% as the music streaming platform projected higher user growth and operating income for Q4 following 19% Y/Y growth in revenue and net income of €300M, up from €65M a year ago, driven by a 12% Y/Y increase in premium subscribers to 252M. Spotify anticipates reaching 665M total MAUs, surpassing the 660.7M expected by analysts, implying around 25M new users. Premium subscribers are forecasted to hit 260M, exceeding the 257.5M consensus estimate, with at least 8M new subscribers. Operating income is projected at €481M, beating analyst estimates by €41M.
• CAVA Group (CAVA) shares jumped 16% after the company reported strong Q3 results and raised its FY2024 outlook. Quarterly revenue surpassed expectations with 38.9% Y/Y growth, while same-restaurant sales grew 18.1%, driven by a 12.9% increase in guest traffic. CAVA posted a restaurant-level profit of $61.8M, up 41.9% from the prior year, with a profit margin of 25.6%. Net income rose to $18M, compared to $6.8M in the same quarter last year. For FY2024, CAVA now projects same-restaurant sales growth of 12.0% to 13.0%, up from its prior range of 8.5% to 9.5%, and increased its restaurant-level profit margin forecast to 24.5%-25% from 24.2%–24.7%. Adjusted EBITDA guidance has also been raised to $121M–$126M from a prior range of $109M–$114M.

Biggest stock losers

• MARA Holdings (MARA) shares plunged over 10% after the company missed Q3 expectations on both top and bottom lines, even as revenue rose about 35% Y/Y. The miner reiterated its year-end target of reaching 50 exahash, projecting to achieve this by mid- to late December, as its energized hash rate rose 93% Y/Y to 36.9 EH/s in 3Q24, up from 19.1 EH/s in 3Q23.