Why Rivian Stock Rallied Today

By Joe Tenebruso – Mar 19, 2026 at 7:35PM ESTKey PointsUber is helping to fund the development of Rivian's autonomous technology.Competition is fierce, but Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe likes his chances.Shares of Rivian Automotive (RIVN +3.70%) rose on Thursday after the electric vehicle (EV) maker struck a lucrative deal with ride-hailing leader Uber Technologies (UBER 1.72%). Image source: The Motley Fool. The path to autonomy Rivian and Uber will work together to advance their autonomous-driving initiatives. Uber and its fleet partners will buy as many as 50,000 fully autonomous R2 robotaxis from Rivian. Initial deliveries are slated to start in 2028 in Miami and San Francisco, with a planned expansion to 25 cities by 2031. ExpandNASDAQ: RIVNRivian AutomotiveToday's Change(3.70%) $0.57Current Price$16.11Key Data PointsMarket Cap$19BDay's Range$15.55 - $17.1152wk Range$10.36 - $22.69Volume2.8MAvg Vol31MGross Margin-276.59% Additionally, Uber will invest up to $1.25 billion in Rivian through 2031, beginning with an initial $300 million investment. Rivian will need to reach technological milestones to receive the full amount. "We're big believers in Rivian's approach -- designing the vehicle, compute platform, and software stack together, while maintaining end-to-end control of scaled manufacturing and supply in the U.S.," Uber CEO Dara Khosrowshahi said. The self-driving race is heating up The deal should allow Rivian to better compete with industry titans like Tesla and Alphabet's Waymo. Yet the EV upstart remains at a significant disadvantage to its well-heeled rivals. Rivian ended 2025 with $6 billion in cash and investments. Tesla ended the year with $44 billion in reserves, and Waymo raised $16 billion in February. Still, Rivian CEO RJ Scaringe is undaunted. "We couldn't be more excited about this partnership with Uber -- it will help accelerate our path to level 4 autonomy to create one of the safest and most convenient autonomous platforms in the world," Scaringe said.Read NextNov 26, 2025 •By Ryan Vanzo2 Things Every Rivian Investor Needs to KnowNov 25, 2025 •By Thomas NielRivian Stock: EV Recovery Play or Value Trap?Oct 27, 2025 •By David ButlerWhere Will Rivian Stock Be in Three Years?Aug 9, 2025 •By David ButlerBetter Buy: Rivian vs. FordMar 4, 2025 •By Manali Pradhan, CFARivian's Stock Is Up Nearly 40% Off Its Lows. Here's What History Says Happens Next.Oct 29, 2024 •By Keith NoonanWhy Rivian Stock Is Falling TodayAbout the AuthorJoe Tenebruso is a contributing Motley Fool stock market analyst with more than 3,000 financial bylines to his name. Joe was an investment analyst for Stock Advisor, Income Investor, Crypto Society, and other top-rated investing services. He also managed Tier 1 Investments, a market-crushing real-money portfolio with 24.58% annualized returns. Joe graduated summa cum laude from Rutgers University with a Bachelor of Science in Finance.tmfguardianX@Tier1InvestorStocks MentionedRivian AutomotiveNASDAQ: RIVN$16.11(+3.70%)+$0.58AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOGL$307.22(-0.15%)-$0.47TeslaNASDAQ: TSLA$380.25(-3.19%)-$12.53AlphabetNASDAQ: GOOG$305.93(-0.12%)-$0.37Uber TechnologiesNYSE: UBER$75.43(-1.60%)-$1.23*Average returns of all recommendations since inception. Cost basis and return based on previous market day close.