Aurora’s Driverless Ambition Meets Wall Street Shrug — AUR Stock Falls As Company Outlines 30,000-Truck 2030 Goal

Aurora on Wednesday said that it aims to operate more than 30,000 driverless trucks by 2030.

• The company’s 2030 target includes $5 billion in revenue and about a 60% gross margin.
• Recent large share sales by Uber added to the pressure on the stock on Wednesday. 
• Aurora plans to finish 2026 with 200 trucks on the road.

Shares of Aurora Innovation (AUR) fell 10% on Wednesday after the self-driving truck company’s goal of operating more than 30,000 driverless trucks by 2030 failed to impress investors.

Investors had built up hopes ahead of Aurora’s Analyst and Investor Day. The company’s 2030 target, including $5 billion in revenue, more than 1,000 times its 2025 adjusted revenue, and about a 60% gross margin, did not give them an immediate boost. Recent large share sales by Uber added to the pressure.

At the time of writing, the shares pared some of the losses, but were still down 3%.

Customers Already Lined Up, Says Aurora

The autonomous trucking company has almost doubled its driverless-truck customers this year. It plans to finish 2026 with 200 trucks on the road. Those trucks are already booked under transport-as-a-service deals.

One customer, Hirschbach, intends to own and operate 500 trucks using Aurora’s system. Deliveries are slated to start in 2027. Aurora is talking with other fleets about similar deals, it said.

CEO Chris Urmson said Aurora has reached a key turning point after years of building. CFO David Maday said the company now has what it needs to grow and is on a path toward profit.

Aurora’s trucks have now driven more than 500,000 miles with no human driver. They average over 225,000 miles a year — more than twice a typical truck, the company said.

Aurora’s second-generation autonomous driving kit is built to last one million miles and costs less than half as much as the earlier version. Partner Roush has started higher-volume work and aims to outfit 20 trucks a week in October, the company said.

Uber Trims Stake

Uber, which sold its Advanced Technologies Group (ATG) self-driving unit to Aurora and took a large stake in 2020, has been steadily trimming its large holdings. Through subsidiary Neben Holdings, Uber sold 67.5 million Aurora shares at $7.10 in June, 72 million at $6.55 in August, and 29.4 million at $6.20 on Sept. 15, raising about $1.13 billion. The latest block trade, disclosed on Sept. 17, cut Uber’s Class A stake to about 9.2%, or 157.1 million shares.

Retail Traders Stay Bullish

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around AUR stock stayed ‘bullish’ over the past 24 hours, while message volume remained ‘high.’

A Stocktwits user urged others to “buy the dip.”

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Another voiced optimism that the stock will recover some of its intraday losses and close in the green.

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AUR stock has gained 63% year-to-date. 

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