Rivian announced significant headcount reductions framed as restructuring to support a path to profitability, coinciding with the start of R2 deliveries. The company carries a -67.3% net margin and -$3.07 diluted EPS on $5.4B in revenue growing 8.4% YoY — a growth rate that is modest for a company this far from breakeven. Critically, management has already walked back its profitability timeline to redirect capital toward autonomy, making the layoffs look more like triage than strategic acceleration.

The setup is a tension between near-term cost discipline (R2 volume ramp, headcount cuts) and a freshly extended runway to profitability that investors must now reprice. Watch for whether R2 delivery volumes in the coming quarters can drive gross margin expansion above the current thin 2.7% — that is the single clearest signal that restructuring is working rather than delaying the inevitable.