Aurora Innovation Stock Jumps On Reports Of Trump Administration Paving The Way For Self-Driving Vehicle Framework: Retail’s Divided

Shares of Aurora Innovation Inc. ($AUR) surged over 7% on Monday morning following reports that President-elect Donald Trump’s administration intends to prioritize creating a regulatory framework for self-driving vehicles.

Sources told Bloomberg that members of Trump’s transition team told advisors that they plan to make a federal framework for full self-driving vehicles one of the transportation department’s priorities.

This comes after reports that Trump’s new administration is planning to kill the $7,500 consumer tax credit for electric vehicle purchases as part of broader tax-reform legislation.

Throughout his campaign, Trump consistently vowed to dismantle what he referred to as President Joe Biden's "EV mandate".

 

AUR Sentiment and Message Volume on Nov 18 as of 9:30 a.m. ET | Source: Stocktwits

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was in the ‘neutral’ zone ahead of markets opening on Monday.

This rally in Aurora’s stock comes after a significant drop in late October, when the company’s third-quarter earnings missed Wall Street estimates, leading to a massive sell-off. 

Aurora also pushed back its commercial launch of autonomous trucks by a quarter, now targeting April 2025 instead of the earlier deadline of late 2024. The delay stems from the company’s decision to continue validating the safety of its self-driving technology.

Aurora is now planning to deploy up to 10 driverless trucks at launch, with an ambitious goal of scaling the fleet to tens of trucks by the end of 2025. 

CEO and co-founder Chris Urmson reassured investors that the delay is within the company’s expected margin of error and that the revised timeline would have minimal financial impact. 

Aurora's stock has gained 44% this year so far.