Tesla Inc (TSLA) and 4 Other Consumer Discretionary Stocks That Have Wowed Billionaire Philippe Laffont

2. Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN)

Value of Coatue Management‘s 13F Position: $1.55 billion

Number of Hedge Fund Shareholders: 30

Philippe Laffont’s hedge fund has a gargantuan $1.55 billion investment in Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) even after trimming the position by 13% during Q1. In contrast, numerous other hedge funds were selling off the electric vehicle maker during the quarter, as hedge fund ownership of RIVN fell by 36% one quarter after the company’s IPO. Among the sellers were Rob Citrone’s Discovery Capital and Steve Cohen’s Point72 Asset Management.

Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) shares have been battered to the tune of 75% declines this year as investors worry that the timing isn’t right for the EV maker to be ramping up production. Like Lucid and XPeng, Rivian has already had to raise the price of its vehicles to offset rising materials costs. Unlike Lucid, Rivian has been able to maintain its 2022 production guidance of 25,000 vehicles thus far and has a strong backlog of orders, including an order for 100,000 delivery vans from Amazon.

The Baron Global Advantage Fund likes Rivian Automotive, Inc. (NASDAQ:RIVN) strong balance sheet as well as its prime opportunity going forward as the auto market further transitions towards EVs. The fund had this to say about the company in its Q1 2022 investor letter:

“Rivian Automotive, Inc. designs, manufactures, and sells consumer and commercial electric vehicles. Shares of Rivian continued its volatile trading following the stock’s IPO in late 2021, declining 52% in the first quarter as investors rotated out of fast-growing long-duration stocks and as industrywide supply-chain issues delayed Rivian’s production ramp. In addition, even while other automotive companies raised prices due to inflationary pressures, Rivian launched a price increase campaign that was not well communicated and, as a result, was met with dissatisfaction by existing reservation holders. While this was an unforced error, the company quickly corrected course, reversing its decision to raise prices for existing reservations, while maintaining the increase on new buyers (which has not caused a material impact to demand). We retain conviction in the shares given management’s vision, Rivian’s product positioning, the company’s relationship with Amazon.com, and the company’s strong balance sheet, which will help it overcome the current challenges while taking advantage of the long-term opportunity as the market transitions to electric vehicles.”