A Strip District-based company developing autonomous driving technologies for commercial and passenger vehicles is poised to join a global stock market index for the first time due to the size of its market capitalization.
Aurora Innovation Inc., which went public in November 2021, will be among the dozens of U.S.-based companies to join the Russell 3000 Index after market close on June 26, 2023, as part of the index's annual reconstitution process.
As its name alludes to, the Russell 3000 consists of the 3,000 largest U.S.-traded stocks determined by market cap, and placement in it also includes membership in either the large-cap Russell 1000 Index or small-cap Russell 2000 Index depending on the total value of a given company's outstanding shares.
"We are pleased to be included in the Russell 3000 Index, one of the most widely cited performance benchmarks for the U.S. stock market," Chris Urmson, co-founder and CEO of Aurora, said in a press release. "This milestone increases our global visibility, expands our investor base, and highlights the momentum in our path to commercial launch."
Aurora's (NASDAQ: AUR) expected membership in the Russell 3000 comes following a drastic decline in its stock price over the past year and a half.
The company's stock peaked shortly after its IPO on Nov. 15, 2021, with a price of $17.11 per share. It has since fallen over 92% to $1.34 per share as of Tuesday's close. Aurora's market cap is currently valued at $1.61 billion.
Over 2,000 employees work at Aurora, the largest concentration of whom report to its Pittsburgh offices. On its May 3, 2023, earnings call, Aurora posted a $196 million net loss for the quarter. It recorded $966 million in on-hand cash and short-term investments for the same time period.
Aurora intends to launch the commercial trucking-based subscription model of its autonomous vehicle technology by the end of 2024 with its partners along a highway corridor in Texas between Dallas and Houston, one of the main routes the company has been testing on extensively over the years.
