Needham & Company LLC Reaffirms 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 reissued by research analysts at Needham & Company LLC in a research report issued on Thursday, Benzinga reports. They currently have a $13.00 target price on the stock. Needham & Company LLC’s target price points to a potential upside of 121.28% from the stock’s previous close.

A number of other analysts have also issued reports on AUR. 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 objective on the stock. Cantor Fitzgerald reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research note on Monday. Craig Hallum started coverage on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research note on Friday, June 5th. They set a “buy” rating and a $18.00 price objective on the stock. Morgan Stanley lifted their price objective on shares of Aurora Innovation from $14.00 to $18.00 and gave the company an “overweight” rating in a research note on Friday, September 11th. Finally, Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Aurora Innovation in a research note on Friday, July 17th. Eight equities research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, two have assigned a Hold rating and two have issued a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, Aurora Innovation currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus target price of $13.11.

Read Our Latest Research Report on AUR

Aurora Innovation Price Performance

NASDAQ AUR traded down $0.45 during mid-day trading on Thursday, hitting $5.88. The company’s stock had a trading volume of 8,445,324 shares, compared to its average volume of 24,963,527. Aurora Innovation has a 52-week low of $3.60 and a 52-week high of $8.56. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $6.33 and its two-hundred day simple moving average is $5.97. The firm has a market capitalization of $11.77 billion, a P/E ratio of -12.48 and a beta of 2.63.

Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR – Get Free Report) last posted its quarterly earnings data on Wednesday, July 29th. The company reported ($0.14) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.12) by ($0.02). The firm had revenue of $2.00 million for the quarter, compared to analysts’ expectations of $1.66 million. Aurora Innovation had a negative net margin of 18,000.00% and a negative return on equity of 43.94%. The company’s revenue for the quarter was up 100.0% on a year-over-year basis. During the same quarter in the prior year, the business earned ($0.11) EPS. On average, equities analysts forecast that Aurora Innovation will post -0.48 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Activity

In related news, Director Michelangelo Volpi sold 2,842,682 shares of Aurora Innovation stock in a transaction on Monday, August 17th. The shares were 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 at the SEC website. Insiders have sold a total of 6,390,753 shares of company stock valued at $44,826,378 in the last three months. 8.52% of the stock is currently owned by insiders.

Institutional Trading of Aurora Innovation

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Clare Market Investments LLC acquired a new stake in shares of Aurora Innovation during the first quarter worth $2,697,000. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. grew its position in shares of Aurora Innovation by 6.6% during the fourth quarter. T. Rowe Price Investment Management Inc. now owns 274,809,541 shares of the company’s stock worth $1,055,269,000 after acquiring an additional 16,933,373 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE grew its position in shares of Aurora Innovation by 130.0% during the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 30,036,169 shares of the company’s stock worth $123,749,000 after acquiring an additional 16,975,927 shares during the last quarter. Shah Wealth Advisors LLC bought a new position in shares of Aurora Innovation during the second quarter worth about $8,038,000. Finally, Amundi grew its position in shares of Aurora Innovation by 46.4% during the first quarter. Amundi now owns 3,661,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $15,086,000 after acquiring an additional 1,160,872 shares during the last quarter. 44.71% of the stock is owned by institutional investors and hedge funds.

Key Stories Impacting Aurora Innovation

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

Positive Sentiment: Analyst optimism increased. Canaccord Genuity raised its price target to $17 from $15 and maintained a “buy” rating. Needham also reaffirmed its “buy” rating with a $13 target, implying substantial upside based on the referenced $6.04 share price.
Positive Sentiment: Strong options activity suggested speculative bullish interest. Investors bought 25,746 call options, approximately 129% above average call volume. Options activity can signal expectations for a future rebound, although it does not guarantee sustained buying in the stock.
Positive Sentiment: Aurora outlined a major scale-up opportunity. The company expects to end 2026 with roughly 200 driverless trucks in operation and is targeting more than 30,000 by 2030. Management presented the plan as a path toward expanding autonomous freight operations and potentially creating significant long-term revenue growth. Aurora targets 30,000 driverless trucks by 2030
Neutral Sentiment: The analyst and investor day provided additional details on Aurora’s strategy. The presentation and transcript focused on the company’s planned expansion, operating milestones and long-term vision. Aurora Innovation Analyst/Investor Day Transcript Aurora Innovation Analyst/Investor Day Slideshow
Negative Sentiment: Investors appeared unimpressed by the long-term targets. Coverage characterized the market response as a “Wall Street shrug,” indicating that the 30,000-truck goal did not provide enough evidence of near-term financial improvement. The sizable gap between the 2026 fleet target and the 2030 objective highlights substantial execution risk. Aurora’s driverless ambition meets Wall Street shrug

About Aurora Innovation

(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.