The hottest auto stock over the last six weeks is not Tesla

Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) shot up 6.75% in afternoon trading on Monday as the electric vehicle stock added to its recent gains. While the EV stock is still down more than 30% on a year-to-date basis, it has been the hottest auto stock over the last six weeks, with its 48% pop even outpacing Tesla (TSLA) over the same period. Notably, Rivian (RIVN) trades at its highest level since late July after the Monday rally.

On Wall Street, Rivian Automotive (RIVN) got a nice boost last week when Benchmark laid out the bull case on the electric vehicle stock. Analyst Mickey Legg and his team believe Rivian (RIVN) is well positioned to gain significant share of a massive market opportunity in the coming decade. “After a pause this year, domestic EV production is expected to improve in 2025 and further accelerate in 2026-27 as ASPs decline and the charging infrastructure is built out,” he highlighted.

Looking ahead, Rivian (RIVN) was noted to appear particularly well-positioned with contracts with Amazon (AMZN) and Volkswagen (OTCPK:VLKAF), highly rated models on the market, and expected positive gross profit in the current quarter. Benchmark also thinks the commercial segment provides a revenue base for Rivian (RIVN) to build upon as it scales the consumer side.

Short bets on Rivian Automotive (RIVN) are still fairly high at 14.9% of the total float. Looking ahead, Rivian Automotive (RIVN) is only a few weeks away from reporting on Q4 deliveries, and potentially issuing 2025 deliveries guidance.