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Shares of Amazon.com Inc.-backed electric vehicle firm Rivian Automotive Inc. soared 43% in their debut on the Nasdaq exchange after one of the biggest initial public offerings of the year.

Late Tuesday, the company had set a price of $78 per share. Rivian, whose shares trade under the ticker symbol RIVN, had previously said that it expected a price range of $57 to $62 before revising the range to $72 to $74 per share. The number of shares to be offered in the IPO has also risen from 135 million to 154 million.

Based on $78 per share, Rivian will float at a valuation of $66.6 billion, according to CNBC, with a possible market capitalization of $68 billion if underwriters exercise their full purchase option. That valuation now stands at $91 billion, more than Ford Motor Co. at $77 billion and General Motors Co. at $87 billion.

Founded in 2009, Rivian is developing semi-autonomous electric vehicles. Although often compared with Tesla Inc., the company differs in that its first two products are an electric pickup truck and an SUV.

The R1T pickup truck first, which starts at $67,500, started shipping in late September. It was met with positive press and was described in one review as the “Goldilocks of pickup trucks.” Rivian’s R1S SUV, which starts at $70,000, is expected to start shipping next year.

Companies with electric vehicles coming to market are not new, with Chinese startups in particular a dime a dozen. What arguably makes Rivian unique is the support of both Amazon and the Ford Motor Co., the former not only as an investor. Amazon has already placed an order for 100,000 delivery vans for delivery by 2030, giving Rivian solid backing in the future.

The company said in its prospectus that it has a backlog of 55,400 pre-orders to fill across both the R1T and T1S models and that it expected to fill those orders by the end of 2023. It is also expected to deliver 10,000 Amazon electric delivery vans early next year.

The interest in Rivian is representative of the interest investors have in electric vehicles, despite the company not making any money yet. Investor interest in the market has not always made companies successful, however, with electric truck maker Nikola Corp. accused of perpetrating fraud with fake model demonstrations. Unlike Nikola, Rivian has working vehicles that have already started shipping.

Coming into its IPO, Rivian had raised a stunning $10.7 billion, including rounds of $2.65 billion in January and $2.5 billion in July 2020. Along with Amazon and Ford, other investors include D1 Capital Partners, Fidelity, Dragoneer Investment Group, T. Rowe Price, Third Point Venture and Climate Pledge Fund.

Photo: Rivian