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Rivian hits the brakes after disappointing earnings and a cut to annual guidance

Rivian reported its second-quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday.

Max Knoblauch

Rivian posted second-quarter earnings after the bell on Tuesday, and the EV maker sees bumpier roads ahead. Rivian shares were down more than 4% in after-hours trading.

Rivian’s loss per share of $0.91 came in worse than analysts’ expectations of a $0.63 loss. Revenue reached $1.3 billion, slightly above the $1.29 billion forecast by analysts polled by FactSet.

The lack of gas-powered or hybrid vehicles to offset EV costs continued to weigh on Rivian, which posted a significantly worse-than-expected net loss of $1.12 billion on the quarter. Still, the figure improved on last year’s $1.46 billion loss. The company delivered 23% fewer vehicles in the second quarter, year over year.

Rivian, which assembles all of its vehicles in Illinois, does still import certain parts like batteries and windshields — though it reportedly quietly built up a battery stockpile, anticipating potential tariff impacts. Rivian maintained its full-year capex outlook of between $1.8 billion and $1.9 billion.

The company lowered its EBITDA outlook, forecasting a full-year loss of between $2 billion and $2.25 billion, deeper than the $1.7 billion to $1.9 billion loss range it had previously guided for. Wall Street estimates had full-year EBITDA at a $1.88 billion loss.

It’s been a rocky year for EV-only automakers like Rivian and rival Lucid, as the Trump administration scrapped pro-EV policies in its “big, beautiful bill” (though both companies largely only qualify for EV tax credits through leasing loopholes). As of market close on Tuesday, Rivian shares are down on the year, along with Lucid and Tesla.

On Monday, Rivian filed a lawsuit against Ohio’s department of motor vehicles, alleging that the state’s ban on direct car sales is “irrational in the extreme.” If Rivian comes out victorious, it could gain a legal playbook for challenging similar laws in the 25 states it does not directly sell in.

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GameStop jumps in after-hours trading after CEO Ryan Cohen purchases another 500,000 shares

Ryan Cohen is putting his money where his mouth is.

The GameStop CEO bought another 500,000 shares of company stock for $10.8 million on Wednesday, per a filing.

The stock was trading higher on Wednesday thanks to Cohen’s purchase of 500,000 shares for roughly $10.6 million on Tuesday, and extended these gains in the after-hours session on this news.

“The Reporting Person believes that it is essential for the Chief Executive Officer of any public company to purchase shares of such company in the open market with his or her own personal funds in order to further strengthen alignment with stockholders,” per the filing. “The Reporting Person believes that any Chief Executive Officer who fails to do so should be fired.”

Cohen is poised to become even more financially enmeshed with GameStop’s stock and operating performance should shareholders approve a package that would tie his pay completely to ambitious targets for the company’s earnings and market cap.

The CEO now owns about 8.56% of shares outstanding.

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AppLovin tumbles; company dismisses negative report as “false, misleading, and nonsensical”

AppLovin managed to finish well off the lows on Tuesday after initially getting clobbered in the wake of an incendiary report on the adtech firm published by CapitalWatch.

Nonetheless, shares are getting torched on Wednesday, ending down nearly 6%. An AppLovin spokesperson forcefully denied the allegations made by CapitalWatch, which included calling it “the ultimate monument to 21st-century new-type transnational financial crime.”

Per an emailed statement:

We categorically reject the claims made in this report, which is rife with false, misleading, and nonsensical allegations. AppLovin’s public filings transparently disclose our material investments, global operations, and information regarding significant shareholders.

Claims that AppLovin facilitated money laundering or its products are used for unauthorized downloads are patently false. AppLovin functions within a broader ecosystem that includes major app stores, operating systems, and payment providers, and the apps monetized through our platform must be publicly available on the major app stores and subject to their independent review and enforcement. Economically, the money laundering theory is implausible: publishers receive only a portion of advertiser spend, meaning any attempt to “launder” funds would require forfeiting a substantial share while creating a highly visible, auditable transaction trail across multiple independent companies. Accepting the report’s premise would therefore imply a systemic failure across the broader mobile advertising and app-store ecosystem, for which the report provides no evidence.

Nonetheless, shares are getting torched on Wednesday, ending down nearly 6%. An AppLovin spokesperson forcefully denied the allegations made by CapitalWatch, which included calling it “the ultimate monument to 21st-century new-type transnational financial crime.”

Per an emailed statement:

We categorically reject the claims made in this report, which is rife with false, misleading, and nonsensical allegations. AppLovin’s public filings transparently disclose our material investments, global operations, and information regarding significant shareholders.

Claims that AppLovin facilitated money laundering or its products are used for unauthorized downloads are patently false. AppLovin functions within a broader ecosystem that includes major app stores, operating systems, and payment providers, and the apps monetized through our platform must be publicly available on the major app stores and subject to their independent review and enforcement. Economically, the money laundering theory is implausible: publishers receive only a portion of advertiser spend, meaning any attempt to “launder” funds would require forfeiting a substantial share while creating a highly visible, auditable transaction trail across multiple independent companies. Accepting the report’s premise would therefore imply a systemic failure across the broader mobile advertising and app-store ecosystem, for which the report provides no evidence.

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Intel soars amid retail engagement, analyst chatter

Intel ripped toward a new 52-week high Wednesday, amid a flurry of activity in the options market and a couple of positive analyst assessments ahead of its earnings report due tomorrow.

Shortly after 11 a.m. ET, call options activity was roughly equivalent to the full-day average over the past 10 sessions. Bets on stock swings using call options have become a highly popular retail trade, suggesting that retail investors are getting interested in the shares ahead of the report from the partially nationalized American chip icon.

(That interpretation is buttressed by what we’re seeing on social sentiment-monitoring sites like SwaggyStocks, which at about 11:30 a.m. listed Intel as the fifth-most-mentioned stock on Reddit’s r/WallStreetBets forum over the past 24 hours.)

Wall Street analysts are also chattering about the stock, with RBC and Bernstein Research both writing about it in the last 24 hours.

RBC — which has a “sector perform” (or neutral) rating on Intel — said it expects a “slight beat and largely inline outlook” when the company reports after the close Thursday.

Bernstein’s Intel watchers — who have a “market perform” (also neutral) rating on the stock — seemed a bit more cautious, writing, “Overall numbers going forward still looking high to us. Fundamentals and valuation keep us sidelined.”

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