Needham & Company LLC Reiterates “Buy” Rating for Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR)

Posted by Brenda Bartman on Sep 24th, 2026

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR – Get Free Report)‘s stock had its “buy” rating reaffirmed by analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued to clients and investors on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They presently have a $13.00 price objective on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price would suggest a potential upside of 118.67% from the company’s current price.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on the stock. Northland Securities started coverage on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research note on Friday, May 29th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $11.00 price target for the company. Wall Street Zen cut Aurora Innovation from a “sell” rating to a “strong sell” rating in a report on Saturday, August 1st. Morgan Stanley raised their target price on Aurora Innovation from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the stock an “overweight” rating in a research report on Friday, September 11th. Evercore reaffirmed an “outperform” rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research note on Tuesday, September 15th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research note on Monday. Eight research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company has a consensus rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $13.11.

View Our Latest Report on AUR

Aurora Innovation Stock Performance

Shares of Aurora Innovation stock traded down $0.38 during trading on Thursday, reaching $5.95. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 16,767,269 shares, compared to its average volume of 25,005,863. Aurora Innovation has a one year low of $3.60 and a one year high of $8.56. The firm has a market cap of $11.91 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -12.57 and a beta of 2.63. The business’s fifty day moving average price is $6.33 and its 200-day moving average price is $5.97.

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR – Get Free Report) last issued its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.02). Aurora Innovation had a negative net margin of 18,000.00% and a negative return on equity of 43.94%. The company had revenue of $2.00 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $1.66 million. During the same period last year, the company earned ($0.11) earnings per share. Aurora Innovation’s revenue for the quarter was up 100.0% on a year-over-year basis. Sell-side analysts anticipate that Aurora Innovation will post -0.48 EPS for the current year.

Insider Transactions at Aurora Innovation

In related news, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 2,842,682 shares of Aurora Innovation stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The stock was sold at an average price of $7.00, for a total value of $19,898,774.00. The sale was disclosed in a document filed with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available through this hyperlink. Insiders sold a total of 6,390,753 shares of company stock valued at $44,826,378 in the last quarter. 8.52% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC lifted its position in Aurora Innovation by 9.6% during the 1st quarter. Ascent Wealth Partners LLC now owns 15,820 shares of the company’s stock worth $65,000 after buying an additional 1,389 shares in the last quarter. Arizona State Retirement System grew its holdings in shares of Aurora Innovation by 0.5% in the 2nd quarter. Arizona State Retirement System now owns 330,647 shares of the company’s stock valued at $2,255,000 after acquiring an additional 1,738 shares in the last quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC increased its position in shares of Aurora Innovation by 16.2% in the second quarter. Concurrent Investment Advisors LLC now owns 13,212 shares of the company’s stock valued at $90,000 after acquiring an additional 1,839 shares during the last quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. raised its holdings in Aurora Innovation by 13.9% during the second quarter. QRG Capital Management Inc. now owns 15,528 shares of the company’s stock worth $106,000 after acquiring an additional 1,891 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Gabelli Funds LLC raised its holdings in Aurora Innovation by 15.4% during the first quarter. Gabelli Funds LLC now owns 15,000 shares of the company’s stock worth $62,000 after acquiring an additional 2,000 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 44.71% of the company’s stock.

Key Aurora Innovation News

Here are the key news stories impacting Aurora Innovation this week:

Positive Sentiment: Higher analyst targets signal confidence. Canaccord Genuity raised its price target from $15 to $17 and assigned a “buy” rating, while Needham reaffirmed its “buy” rating with a $13 target. Both targets imply substantial potential upside from recent trading levels.
Positive Sentiment: Aurora outlined an aggressive growth roadmap. The company expects to end 2026 with approximately 200 driverless trucks in operation and is targeting more than 30,000 autonomous trucks by 2030. If achieved, that expansion could significantly increase revenue and strengthen Aurora’s position in the autonomous freight market. Aurora targets 30,000 driverless trucks by 2030
Positive Sentiment: Options activity was unusually bullish. Investors purchased 25,746 call options, approximately 129% above average call volume, indicating increased speculative interest in a potential rise in AUR shares.
Neutral Sentiment: Investor day provided additional details on Aurora’s strategy. The company presented its 2030 vision and operating targets through an analyst presentation and accompanying transcript. Aurora Investor Day slideshow
Negative Sentiment: The ambitious outlook did not immediately convince Wall Street. Coverage characterized the market response as a “shrug,” with the stock declining as investors appeared to question the pace and feasibility of scaling from roughly 200 trucks in 2026 to more than 30,000 by 2030. The reaction highlights execution, capital requirements and commercialization risk despite the favorable analyst ratings. Aurora’s driverless ambition meets Wall Street shrug

Aurora Innovation Company Profile

(Get Free Report)

Aurora Innovation, Inc develops autonomous vehicle technology designed to transport people and goods without human drivers. Its core product, the Aurora Driver, combines artificial intelligence, sensors, mapping, and other software and hardware systems to enable automated driving across trucking, ride-hailing, and logistics applications.

The company is initially focused on autonomous trucking, where its technology is intended to support long-haul freight operations and improve safety, efficiency, and vehicle utilization.