/A%20concept%20image%20of%20a%20self-driving%20car%20image%20by%20Gorodenkoff%20via%20Shutterstock.jpg)
The robotaxi market is moving fast in 2025, and China is right at the center of it all. Pony.ai (PONY) just made headlines when its stock jumped almost 50% in one day on April 28. This big move happened after the company announced it had cut the cost of its self-driving system by 70% and was working quickly to become profitable, a rare thing in the world of self-driving cars.
Pony.ai’s rise is happening while the global robotaxi market is set to more than skyrocket, growing from $1.19 billion in 2024 to $2.01 billion in 2025, with an impressive annual growth rate of over 69%. As cities get more crowded and traffic gets worse, more people are looking for cleaner, faster, and driverless ways to get around. Pony.ai is taking advantage of this trend by teaming up with major partners and pushing its technology forward.
Now that the stock is getting a lot of attention and Wall Street is calling it a “Strong Buy,” the big question is clear: Is this the right moment to get in on Pony.ai, or has the stock already made its big move? Let’s find out.
Pony.ai’s Financial Trajectory and Performance
Pony.ai (PONY) builds self-driving technology for both robotaxis and robotrucks, operating in China and the United States. The company started trading on the Nasdaq as PONY on Nov. 27, 2024, with its IPO priced at $13 per share, quickly becoming known as the world’s first pure robotaxi stock.
As of this writing, the stock is down more than 37% in the year to date. This is a lot of movement for a company that’s only been public for five months.
The most recent earnings report, released on March 25, 2025, gives a clear look at how things are going. In the last quarter of 2024, Pony.ai made $35.5 million in revenue, which was down almost 30% from the same time the year before.
This drop mostly came from fewer big engineering projects and less robotaxi service income. Gross profit for the quarter was $7.5 million, down nearly 60% year-over-year, with a margin of 21%. Expenses jumped more than 300% to $180.6 million, mostly because of heavy spending on research and development and costs tied to the IPO.
This led to a net loss of $181.1 million for the quarter, much higher than the $20.7 million loss in Q4 2023.
For all of 2024, Pony.ai brought in $75 million in revenue, up 4.3% from the year before, and finished the year with $745.2 million in cash and short-term investments, which gives it some breathing room as it tries to grow even more.
What’s Driving Pony.ai Forward
Pony.ai’s recent rise in the robotaxi world comes down to a steady stream of new ideas and some smart partnerships. The biggest news lately is its deal with Tencent (TCEHY).
This partnership will help Pony.ai improve its self-driving technology by using Tencent’s huge digital network, cloud services, and mapping tools. With Pony.ai’s robotaxi service now connected to Tencent’s Weixin Mobility Services, the company can reach millions of new users and make the ride experience smoother and more enjoyable for people in China.
Pony.ai is also pushing hard to make its own technology better and more affordable. At the 2025 Shanghai Auto Show, Pony.ai showed off its seventh-generation robotaxi, built with help from Toyota (TM), BAIC, and GAC.
This new lineup uses a fully automotive-grade self-driving kit and has cut system costs by 70%. The cars have already driven for 500,000 hours without a driver and have a safety record 10 times better than human drivers, showing that Pony.ai is ready to roll out these cars on a bigger scale.
The company is also looking beyond China. In April 2025, Pony.ai got a permit to test Level 4 robotaxis in Luxembourg and set up its first research hub in Europe. This makes Pony.ai the first to reach this level in Luxembourg, joining a small group with similar permits in China, the U.S., and South Korea. It’s a big step for Pony.ai as it aims to become a global name in self-driving cars.
On the business side, Pony.ai keeps breaking new ground. In March, it became the first company allowed to run fully driverless, paid robotaxi rides in Shenzhen’s Nanshan District, connecting busy parts of the city and serving a lot of people. In Guangzhou, Pony.ai is the only company offering robotaxi rides from downtown to major travel hubs like the airport and train station, proving it can handle real-world, high-demand routes.
Pony.ai is also making moves in trucking. It’s the first company in China approved for autonomous truck platooning tests, running robotrucks on major highways and aiming to one day have fully driverless freight fleets. With over 5 million kilometers driven and a huge amount of goods moved, Pony.ai’s robotruck business is already making a real difference and helping to lower costs.
Wall Street’s Take
Looking at what’s ahead, Wall Street expects Pony.ai to make big progress on its earnings. For 2025, analysts think the company will report a loss of $0.47 per share, a huge improvement from last year’s loss of $2.45 per share. That’s an estimated growth rate of about 81% year over year.
All three analysts covering Pony.ai have given it a “Strong Buy” rating, and the average price target is $18.65. This means analysts see 100% upside from here. This kind of optimism is rare, even for fast-growing tech stocks.
Conclusion
So, should you buy Pony.ai after its massive jump? If you believe in the future of autonomous vehicles and want exposure to a company with real momentum, bold partnerships, and a clear path to profitability, Pony.ai looks like a smart bet, especially with analysts seeing 100% upside from here.
While the ride may be bumpy, the direction is clear: Pony.ai is charging ahead, and odds are, its shares will keep trending higher as milestones keep stacking up.
On the date of publication, Ebube Jones did not have (either directly or indirectly) positions in any of the securities mentioned in this article. All information and data in this article is solely for informational purposes. For more information please view the Barchart Disclosure Policy here.
