Electric vehicle maker Rivian Automotive (NASDAQ:RIVN) ended its first day as a public traded company valued at almost $88 billion U.S. as its share price jumped 29% in its market debut.
Rivian’s market capitalization puts the electric truck maker on par with General Motors (NYSE:GM) and makes it more valuable than Ford (NYSE:F), one of its top investors. On a fully diluted basis, including options and restricted stock units, Rivian Automotive is valued at about $98 billion U.S.
That compares with Rivian’s valuation of $27.6 billion U.S. in January of this year.
Backed by deep-pocketed companies such as Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) and Ford, Rivian sold 153 million shares for $78 U.S. each. The stock closed trading yesterday at $100.73 U.S. per share.
The company’s almost $12 billion U.S. initial public offering (IPO) is the biggest globally this year, and the sixth-largest ever on a U.S. stock exchange.
Rivian is looking to make a dent in the electric vehicle industry led by Tesla, which has a market value of almost $1.1 trillion U.S. after its shares have gained 52% this year.
Just a couple of months ago, Rivian delivered its first vehicles, mostly to its own employees. It will only produce about 1,200 vehicles by year-end at its plant in Normal, Illinois. The company, which lost almost $1 billion U.S. in the first half of the year, estimates that annual production will hit 150,000 vehicles at its main facility by late 2023.