Goldman Sachs Hikes Rivian (RIVN) to $18 as Focus Shifts to R2 Platform, Autonomous Driving Progress

Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) is one of the most buzzing stocks to invest in according to hedge funds. On January 5, Goldman Sachs raised the firm’s price target on Rivian to $18 from $16 with a Neutral rating on the shares. The firm highlighted that Rivian’s Q4 2025 deliveries reached 9.7K, which was a slight miss compared to the firm’s estimates. This was also a 26% sequential decline and a 31% drop year-over-year. Goldman Sachs now expects investor attention to center on the R2 platform and the company’s progress in autonomous driving.

In other news, on December 11, Rivian unveiled a shift toward complete vertical integration of its self-driving technology. The centerpiece of this announcement was the Rivian Autonomy Processor/RAP1, which is a custom-built 5nm chip designed to handle vision-centric physical AI. The proprietary silicon integrates processing and memory into a single module, using RivLink low-latency interconnect technology to allow for scalable processing power.

The custom hardware powers the third-generation Autonomy Compute Module 3/ACM3, which boasts industry-leading specifications: 1,600 sparse INT8 TOPS (Trillion Operations Per Second) and the ability to process 5 billion pixels per second. To support this vision-heavy system, Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) will integrate LiDAR into its future R2 models to provide redundant 3D spatial data for complex edge case driving scenarios. This Gen 3 hardware suite is currently undergoing validation and is scheduled to begin shipping on R2 models at the end of 2026.

Rivian Automotive Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN), together with its subsidiaries, designs, develops, manufactures, and sells EVs and accessories.

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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.