Shares of WeRide (NASDAQ: WRD) were soaring on Tuesday. The stock was up 24% as of 1:45 p.m. ET. The move comes as the S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite slipped by 0.7% and 0.8%, respectively.
The autonomous vehicle pioneer yesterday announced a significant expansion of its strategic partnership with Uber Technologies. This drove investor enthusiasm.
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WeRide and Uber expand their partnership
WeRide and Uber announced a major expansion of their existing partnership on Monday. The companies will add 15 additional cities globally over the next five years — including locations in Europe — to the rollout of WeRide’s robotaxi services. The announcement makes one of the largest partnerships of its kind in the autonomous vehicle industry and helps accelerate the timeline for WeRide’s global deployment of its technology.
Under the terms of the partnership, WeRide’s robotaxi services will be available through the Uber app in these new markets, while Uber will handle fleet operations. This division of responsibilities plays to each company’s strengths: WeRide provides the autonomous technology, and Uber contributes its existing massive user base and operational expertise.
The expanded partnership builds on the companies’ initial collaboration in Abu Dhabi and Dubai.
WeRide could be pulling ahead
Yesterday’s announcement suggests China-headquartered WeRide is pulling ahead of many autonomous vehicle competitors in the race to actually bring the technology to market. However, stiff competition remains from major players like Tesla and Alphabet-backed Waymo. Uber also announced today it was partnering with Pony AI to roll out in certain Middle East markets, with more to come.
WeRide operates deep in the red, but that is not unusual for a company like it. This will change once its technology establishes itself and sales grow. The company’s stock is also slightly better priced than Pony AI’s, and it has the backing of Nvidia. For those with patience and a high risk tolerance, I think WeRide is a good pick.
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Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Johnny Rice has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Nvidia, Tesla, and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
