Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY) Shares Gap Up - Still a Buy?

Key Points

• Joby Aviation's stock price surged from $17.37 to $18.89 before closing at $16.95, with over 13 million shares traded.
• Research analysts have issued mixed ratings on Joby Aviation, with Canaccord Genuity downgrading from "buy" to "hold" and setting a new price target of $17.00.
• In its latest quarterly earnings report, Joby Aviation missed earnings estimates with a reported EPS of ($0.24), down significantly from the previous year.

Joby Aviation, Inc. (NYSE:JOBY - Get Free Report)'s stock price gapped up before the market opened on Friday . The stock had previously closed at $17.37, but opened at $18.89. Joby Aviation shares last traded at $16.95, with a volume of 13,643,465 shares.

Analyst Ratings Changes

A number of research firms recently issued reports on JOBY. Canaccord Genuity Group lowered Joby Aviation from a "buy" rating to a "hold" rating and lifted their target price for the stock from $12.00 to $17.00 in a report on Thursday, August 7th. HC Wainwright lowered Joby Aviation from a "buy" rating to a "neutral" rating in a report on Thursday, August 7th. Cantor Fitzgerald reaffirmed a "neutral" rating and set a $9.00 target price on shares of Joby Aviation in a report on Monday, June 23rd. JPMorgan Chase & Co. lifted their target price on Joby Aviation from $5.00 to $7.00 and gave the stock an "underweight" rating in a report on Friday, August 1st. Finally, Wall Street Zen lowered Joby Aviation from a "hold" rating to a "sell" rating in a report on Saturday, August 2nd. Two research analysts have rated the stock with a sell rating, four have issued a hold rating and one has assigned a buy rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat.com, the stock has a consensus rating of "Hold" and a consensus target price of $10.50.

Joby Aviation Trading Down 4.5%

The firm has a market cap of $13.13 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -15.50 and a beta of 2.52. The stock has a 50-day moving average of $13.46 and a two-hundred day moving average of $9.10.

Joby Aviation (NYSE:JOBY - Get Free Report) last released its quarterly earnings results on Wednesday, August 6th. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share for the quarter, missing analysts' consensus estimates of ($0.18) by ($0.06). Joby Aviation had a negative net margin of 447,083.78% and a negative return on equity of 71.29%. The company had revenue of $0.02 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $0.05 million. During the same quarter last year, the business earned ($0.18) EPS. The company's revenue for the quarter was down 94.6% compared to the same quarter last year. Sell-side analysts expect that Joby Aviation, Inc. will post -0.69 EPS for the current fiscal year.

Insiders Place Their Bets

In related news, insider Bonny W. Simi sold 300,000 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, June 30th. The stock was sold at an average price of $10.79, for a total value of $3,237,000.00. Following the completion of the transaction, the insider owned 203,588 shares in the company, valued at $2,196,714.52. This trade represents a 59.57% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a document filed with the SEC, which can be accessed through the SEC website. Also, Director Paul Cahill Sciarra sold 500,001 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction dated Monday, July 14th. The stock was sold at an average price of $12.38, for a total value of $6,190,012.38. Following the sale, the director owned 57,328,059 shares of the company's stock, valued at $709,721,370.42. The trade was a 0.86% decrease in their ownership of the stock. The disclosure for this sale can be found here. Insiders have sold a total of 1,936,558 shares of company stock worth $21,551,263 over the last three months. Company insiders own 28.50% of the company's stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On Joby Aviation

A number of hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently made changes to their positions in the company. Headlands Technologies LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Joby Aviation during the 2nd quarter worth about $1,333,000. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC raised its stake in shares of Joby Aviation by 262.2% during the 2nd quarter. Tower Research Capital LLC TRC now owns 76,545 shares of the company's stock worth $808,000 after purchasing an additional 55,411 shares in the last quarter. Vident Advisory LLC purchased a new stake in shares of Joby Aviation during the 2nd quarter worth about $125,000. Two Sigma Securities LLC raised its stake in shares of Joby Aviation by 540.2% during the 2nd quarter. Two Sigma Securities LLC now owns 96,304 shares of the company's stock worth $1,016,000 after purchasing an additional 81,262 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Tidal Investments LLC raised its stake in shares of Joby Aviation by 127.1% during the 2nd quarter. Tidal Investments LLC now owns 51,923 shares of the company's stock worth $548,000 after purchasing an additional 29,059 shares in the last quarter. 52.85% of the stock is owned by hedge funds and other institutional investors.

About Joby Aviation

Joby Aviation, Inc, a vertically integrated air mobility company, engages in building an electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft optimized to deliver air transportation as a service. The company intends to build an aerial ridesharing service, as well as developing an application-based platform that will enable consumers to book rides.