Rivian Stock Falls After Second Sell Downgrade. Why Its Gains Have Made Wall Street Wary. -- Barrons.com

Al Root

Rivian Automotive stock has picked up two downgrades so far this week, with sentiment in the electric vehicle maker swinging too far for the latest Wall Street bear.

UBS analyst Joseph Spak downgraded the electric-vehicle maker's shares to Sell from Hold on Wednesday, according to FactSet. His price target went to $15 from $13 a share.

Rivian's stock was down 2.8% at $18.32 in premarket trading, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were off 0.3% and 0.2%, respectively.

Coming into Wednesday trading, Rivian stock was up 44% over the past three months, boosted by optimism for self-driving cars and higher sales.

Rivian hosted an AI & Autonomy day in December, unveiling Tesla-like plans for self-driving cars. What's more, its new R2 models are due out later this year. They are lower-priced EVs that can help boost sales. Rivian sold about 42,000 cars in 2025, down from about 52,000 in 2024. Wall Street expects 68,000 for 2026.

The stock has gone too far too fast for Spak. He is worried that expectations for R2 sales might be too high. Failing to hit Wall Street sales estimates could send shares lower this year.

Despite the stock gains, Wall Street remains skeptical. Overall, 30% of analysts covering the company rate shares Buy, according to FactSet. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%.

Spak's downgrade to Sell from Hold doesn't change the Buy-rating ratio; it changes Rivian's Sell-rating ratio. Now, 30% of analysts covering the stock rate shares Sell. The average Sell ratio for S&P 500 stocks is closer to 7%.

Spak's is the second downgrade to Sell in recent days, following Wolfe Research analyst Emmanuel Rosner on Monday.

His price target is $16 a share. The average analyst price target for Rivian stock is about $17.

Coming into Tuesday trading, Rivian stock was up 41% over the past 12 months. Rivian stock peaked at $179.47 in November 2021, shortly after its initial public offering. Expectations for EV sales and growth were very different back then.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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January 14, 2026 09:28 ET (14:28 GMT)

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