Evercore Tempers Rivian Rally, Says AI Day Chip Reveal Was a Surprise, Not a Market Mover

Overview

• Evercore ISI reiterated an Outperform rating with an $18 target, calling Rivian’s Autonomy & AI Day directionally positive but largely in line with expectations.
• The firm said the lone surprise was Rivian’s in‑house RAP1 custom 5nm processor, produced by TSMC, which reduces reliance on Nvidia and powers the third‑generation Autonomy Compute Module.
• Evercore highlighted system capabilities of up to 1,600 sparse INT8 TOPS and roughly 5 billion pixels per second, which it said exceed typical Level 3 autonomy targets.
• Rivian said its Gen 3 hardware with planned LiDAR integration is in validation and expected to ship on R2 models starting at the end of 2026, with Autonomy+ targeted for early 2026 at $2,500 upfront or $49.99 per month.
• Rivian shares jumped about 12% to close at $18.42 after the event, with intraday highs of $19.60 and unusually heavy trading and options activity, as Needham raised its target to $23 and other firms voiced optimism despite prior caution from Morgan Stanley.