The global autonomous vehicle (AV) market is growing. According to the Autonomous Vehicle Industry Association (AVIA), autonomous vehicles have logged over 70 million miles on public roads as of late 2024. That's a 59% increase since the association last reported in July 2023.
However, depending on where you live, AVs may still seem like more science fiction than innovation. The key reason for this, according to industry analysts and executives, is the lack of a regulatory framework. Some states, like California and Texas, are well into the AV transition, while other states have little to no exposure.
But that could be changing. In November 2024, the AV industry got a jolt as the incoming Trump administration acknowledged that it would prioritize a federal regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles. In their State of AV 2024 report, the AIVA cited CEOs as saying that increased engagement by policy makers was critical for the success of the industry.
For investors, this means it could be a great time to invest in autonomous vehicle stocks. In this special presentation, we are looking at seven options for those who want to gain exposure in this sector.
Quick Links
- NVIDIA
- Tesla
- General Motors
- Uber Technologies
- Mobileye
- Aurora Innovation
- Ouster
#1 - NVIDIA (NASDAQ:NVDA)
NVIDIA Corp. (NASDAQ: NVDA) is one of the best-performing stocks of 2023 and 2024. Much of the credit for the stock’s strong performance is due to the company’s leadership position in graphic processing units (GPUs) for the data center market.
However, NVIDIA is also reporting strong demand for its NVIDIA DRIVE AGX™ platform, which provides companies with the hardware and software necessary for many automotive applications including autonomous driving functions.
In its 2025 fiscal year earnings report delivered in November 2024, NVIDIA reported $449 million in revenue from this market—a 30% gain from the prior quarter and a 72% gain year-over-year.
That’s only a fraction of the $35 billion that NVIDIA reported in quarterly revenue, and the market is still growing. To illustrate that growth, NVIDIA announced that Japanese and Indian companies will be using the company’s products to build their next wave of physical artificial intelligence.
About NVIDIA
NVIDIA Corporation provides graphics and compute and networking solutions in the United States, Taiwan, China, Hong Kong, and internationally. The Graphics segment offers GeForce GPUs for gaming and PCs, the GeForce NOW game streaming service and related infrastructure, and solutions for gaming platforms; Quadro/NVIDIA RTX GPUs for enterprise workstation graphics; virtual GPU or vGPU software for cloud-based visual and virtual computing; automotive platforms for infotainment systems; and Omniverse software for building and operating metaverse and 3D internet applications.
Read More - Current Price
- $145.14
- Consensus Rating
- Moderate Buy
- Ratings Breakdown
- 40 Buy Ratings, 3 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $164.15 (13.1% Upside)
#2 - Tesla (NASDAQ:TSLA)
Investors may look at the relationship between Tesla Inc. (NASDAQ: TSLA) founder and chief executive officer, Elon Musk, and Donald Trump with a healthy dose of cynicism. But if this relationship was a bet on Tesla, it looks like a good one.
If the Trump administration successfully creates a federal regulatory framework for autonomous vehicles, Tesla would be an obvious beneficiary. Among U.S. companies, Tesla is furthest down the AV path. The company’s full self-driving (FSD) technology is currently at Level 2. But if a regulatory framework allows electric vehicle (EV) makers to apply for regulatory approval at Level 4, then Tesla has a huge leg up.
Musk has made no secret that Tesla’s future is inexorably linked to autonomous driving. But investors have been wondering how long it would take for that bet to pay off. It appears that timeline is shrinking and analysts are raising their price targets, including Wedbush which gave TSLA stock a $400 price target and Stifel Nicolaus which came in with a $411 target.
About Tesla
Tesla, Inc designs, develops, manufactures, leases, and sells electric vehicles, and energy generation and storage systems in the United States, China, and internationally. The company operates in two segments, Automotive, and Energy Generation and Storage. The Automotive segment offers electric vehicles, as well as sells automotive regulatory credits; and non-warranty after-sales vehicle, used vehicles, body shop and parts, supercharging, retail merchandise, and vehicle insurance services.
Read More - Current Price
- $357.93
- Consensus Rating
- Hold
- Ratings Breakdown
- 16 Buy Ratings, 15 Hold Ratings, 9 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $243.75 (31.9% Downside)
#3 - General Motors (NYSE:GM)
General Motors Co. (NYSE: GM) is the largest U.S. automaker by market share, with approximately 17% of the market. Much of that has come from their internal combustion engine (ICE) vehicles, but the company is among the leaders in EVs, including autonomous technology.
The latter comes from the company’s Cruise division, which had a notable setback in 2023 after one of its autonomous vehicles dragged a pedestrian. However, the company is now operating again with supervised autonomous driving in three markets and driverless testing happening in Houston, Texas.
This is still a small part of GM’s overall business, and investors should note that it’s generating virtually no revenue. However, the company is managing to cut the expenses based on its more focused operational plan.
As of December 2024, GM stock looks fairly valued, but analysts have been raising their price targets. JPMorgan Chase, for example, raised its price target to $70, as did Barclays.
About General Motors
General Motors Company designs, builds, and sells trucks, crossovers, cars, and automobile parts; and provide software-enabled services and subscriptions worldwide. The company operates through GM North America, GM International, Cruise, and GM Financial segments. It markets its vehicles primarily under the Buick, Cadillac, Chevrolet, GMC, Baojun, and Wuling brand names.
Read More - Current Price
- $53.36
- Consensus Rating
- Hold
- Ratings Breakdown
- 10 Buy Ratings, 6 Hold Ratings, 4 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $57.74 (8.2% Upside)
#4 - Uber Technologies (NYSE:UBER)
Uber Technologies Inc. (NYSE: UBER) is up approximately 200% in the two years ending December 2, 2024. The stock’s gains are due, in part, to increased demand for the ride-hailing company’s services. This is confirmed by revenue that has grown sequentially and year-over-year in that time.
However, autonomous technology is likely to play a significant role in the company’s future. The company says it is positioned as the platform partner of choice for many AV companies.
For example, General Motors has announced plans to deploy some of its Cruise AVs on the Uber platform in the first half of 2025. That comes on the heels of an October 2024 announcement of Uber’s multiyear strategic partnership with Avride to deploy Avride’s delivery robots and autonomous vehicles with Uber and Uber Eats.
Despite its two-year run-up, analysts have a $90.51 price target on UBER stock. That’s a 23% gain from the stock’s December 2, 2024 stock price. And Tigress Financial gives the stock a price target that’s nearly 15% higher at $103.
About Uber Technologies
Uber Technologies, Inc develops and operates proprietary technology applications in the United States, Canada, Latin America, Europe, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia excluding China and Southeast Asia. It operates through three segments: Mobility, Delivery, and Freight. The Mobility segment connects consumers with a range of transportation modalities, such as ridesharing, carsharing, micromobility, rentals, public transit, taxis, and other modalities; and offers riders in a variety of vehicle types, as well as financial partnerships products and advertising services.
Read More - Current Price
- $72.18
- Consensus Rating
- Moderate Buy
- Ratings Breakdown
- 33 Buy Ratings, 6 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $90.51 (25.4% Upside)
#5 - Mobileye (NASDAQ:MBLY)
Mobileye Global Inc. (NASDAQ: MBLY) is one of the pioneers in advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The company’s equipment is currently in use on over 130 million vehicles. However, revenue is down year-over-year in 2024 as demand for new equipment has slumped due to the slowdown in the overall EV industry. This includes the company's next-generation ADAS technology.
While Mobileye appears to be turning the corner on revenue, it was still posting a year-over-year decline of around 9% as of the company’s third quarter. And there’s concern over China’s push to develop advanced technologies, such as ADAS, within the country.
That's reflected in the MBLY stock price, which is down approximately 58% in 2024 as of December 2. However, the stock looks to have made a bottom in September and is up 25% to close out the year. Bulls can point to the company’s gross margin, which is nearly 70%. Mobileye also has a $1.4 billion cash reserve.
About Mobileye Global
Mobileye Global Inc develops and deploys advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS) and autonomous driving technologies and solutions worldwide. The company operates through Mobileye and Other segments. It offers Driver Assist comprising ADAS and autonomous vehicle solutions that covers safety features, such as real-time detection of road users, geometry, semantics, and markings to provide safety alerts and emergency interventions; Cloud-Enhanced Driver Assist, a solution for drivers with interpretations of a scene in real-time; Mobileye SuperVision Lite, a navigation and assisted driving solution; and Mobileye SuperVision, an operational point-to-point assisted driving navigation solution on various road types and includes cloud-based enhancements, such as road experience management.
Read More - Current Price
- $17.08
- Consensus Rating
- Hold
- Ratings Breakdown
- 12 Buy Ratings, 11 Hold Ratings, 3 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $23.14 (35.5% Upside)
#6 - Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR)
Aurora Innovation Inc. (NASDAQ: AUR) is a niche player operating in the autonomous trucking industry. The company’s lead solution is Aurora Driver, which combines a computer, a suite of sensors (e.g. radar, LiDAR, and cameras), and a software automation stack.
Aurora Innovation is pre-revenue but getting ready to begin commercial operations in 2025 with 10 driverless trucks in Texas. If that goes well, the company will add new lanes and additional product capabilities and capacity by the end of the year.
AUR stock is over 48% in 2024 and is up a whopping 167.3% in the 12 months ending December 2, 2024. But is this as good as it gets for investors? The company conducted a cash raise earlier in 2024, and there’s a strong likelihood that even more cash will need to be raised before it is on a viable path.
Analysts view the stock as overvalued with a price target that forecasts over 23% downside. However, McKinsey believes the global autonomous trucking market could be valued at over $600 billion by 2035. Therefore, if you’re looking at AUR as anything outside of a trade, you’ll need to have a long-term focus and scale into your position accordingly.
About Aurora Innovation
Aurora Innovation, Inc operates as a self-driving technology company in the United States. It focuses on developing Aurora Driver, a platform that brings a suite of self-driving hardware, software, and data services together to adapt and interoperate vehicles. The company was founded in 2017 and is headquartered in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania.
- Current Price
- $6.03
- Consensus Rating
- Hold
- Ratings Breakdown
- 1 Buy Ratings, 3 Hold Ratings, 1 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $4.63 (23.3% Downside)
#7 - Ouster (NYSE:OUST)
Ouster Inc. (NYSE: OUST) is one of the leading providers of digital LiDAR technology, which is essential to autonomous driving technology. The company has partnerships with China’s Waymo, General Motors (which uses the technology in its Cruise division), and Motional (which is currently deploying Ouster’s technology in its robotaxis on the Las Vegas Strip).
Investing in OUST stock may also be a shrewd play in 2025 because of its small-cap status. The long-awaited rally in small-cap stocks is underway, and this segment of the market is likely to show big gains.
Ouster is showing strong top-line growth, including a record $28 million in the quarter ending September 30, 2024. And investors have been buying into that growth. OUST stock is up 26% in 2024 and over 64% in the last 12 months. The company is not yet profitable, but it has achieved its goal of gross margin between 35% to 40%. It has no debt and $154 million in cash and cash equivalents.
About Ouster
Ouster, Inc provides lidar sensors for the automotive, industrial, robotics, and smart infrastructure industries in Americas, the Asia-Pacific, Europe, the Middle East, and Africa. Its products include high-resolution scanning and solid-state digital lidar sensors, analog lidar sensors, and software solutions.
Read More - Current Price
- $8.89
- Consensus Rating
- Moderate Buy
- Ratings Breakdown
- 4 Buy Ratings, 1 Hold Ratings, 0 Sell Ratings.
- Consensus Price Target
- $13.00 (46.2% Upside)
Autonomous driving technology is advancing at a rapid pace and industry advocates are highlighting its potential to greatly reduce accidents resulting from distracted driving.
However, you should only invest capital in this space with your eyes wide open.
This is still an industry that will be subject to significant regulatory scrutiny. Even if the Trump administration successfully creates a federal regulatory framework, it will still be years—and maybe decades—before AVs are a significant part of the U.S. transportation network. There are only 19 states with AV statutes in place; another 12 states have them, but only in regards to a piloting or testing framework.
And even as that changes, there will be winners and losers among AV stocks along the way. Nevertheless, if you're an investor with a long-term outlook and speculative cash to put in the market, AV stocks may reap significant profits.
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