Is Tesla's Valuation Cheaper Than Rivian's? Gene Munster Breaks It Down

Rivian Automotive Inc RIVN made its public debut on Wednesday. The highly anticipated EV stock traded higher by nearly 30%, closing the day valued above many traditional automakers.

Rivian's valuation may be even more lofty than Tesla Inc's TSLA, according to Loup Funds' Gene Munster.

"I think Rivian's valuation is a full standard deviation outside of aggressive," Munster said Thursday on CNBC's "Squawk Box."

Comparing Valuations: Munster told CNBC the average sale price of a Rivian vehicle is about $80,000, which is similar to Tesla's Model S and X.

Tesla delivers about 70,000 of these vehicles per year, according to Munster. Rivian is expected to deliver about 1,000 vehicles this year, but if one assumes the company is able to deliver 70,000 vehicles in 2023, "that means that the valuation per vehicle delivery in 2023 is $1.3 million," he said.

Based on 2023 delivery expectations, Tesla is valued around $500,000 per vehicle delivery, Munster said.

"When you put this together, this is trading at about two-and-a-half times Tesla's valuation and does not have what I think is some of the other x-factor upside around autonomy ... so it does beg a question of why is this happening to Rivian stock and can it continue."

See Also: Cathie Wood Backs Elon Musk's Stock Sales, Says Tesla Selloff 'Nothing But A Blip,' Wouldn't Buy Rivian At Current Levels

EVs are ultimately computers on wheels, so Munster considers Tesla and Rivian to be tech companies, he said.

"So when I think about Tesla and think about the long term, my opinion is this can be a $2,500 stock."

Munster said he sees an important difference between Tesla and Rivian: Tesla didn't increase its growth rate to 50% until it started selling lower priced vehicles.

Tesla's valuation "is justified given the size of the market opportunity, but in Rivian's case, it's a head scratcher for me," Munster told CNBC.

RIVN, TSLA Price Action: Rivian was up 10.85% at $111.56 and Tesla was trading near-flat at $1,068.65 Thursday morning. 

Photos: courtesy of Rivian and Tesla.