Shares of Rivian Automotive Inc surged as much as 53% in its Nasdaq debut on Wednesday, giving the Amazon-backed electric vehicle maker a market valuation of more than $100 billion after the world’s biggest initial public offering this year.
That made Rivian the second most valuable U.S. automaker at one point behind Tesla Inc, which is worth $1.04 trillion. Despite just having started selling vehicles and having little revenue to report, Rivian ranked ahead of General Motors Co at $86 billion, Ford Motor Co at about $77 billion, and Lucid Group at $66 billion before it pared some gains.
The stock opened at $106.75 per share, blowing past the offer price of $78, and rose as high as $119.46. It was still trading above $99.00 at mid-afternoon.
“Rivian’s IPO showcases strong investor excitement about electrification and mobility technology,” said Asad Hussain, senior mobility analyst at PitchBook.
Since last year, EV companies have emerged as some of the hottest investments. Including securities such as options and restricted stock units, Rivian’s fully diluted valuation exceeded $108 billion.
