Next-Gen Trucking Gains Speed: Analysts Hit the Gas on These 2 Autonomous Trucking Stocks

We are still in the early stages of seeing how AI will transform the world, with some developments once confined to science fiction now becoming reality. Among the most compelling applications is the rise of autonomous vehicles where AI is being integrated into the logistics backbone of modern economies. Self-driving taxis and freight haulers are already being tested on public roads, and their broader adoption appears increasingly inevitable.

This shift holds particular significance for the U.S. trucking industry. According to the American Trucking Associations, nearly 15 million trucks transported about 72.7% of the nation’s freight last year, generating roughly $906 billion in revenue. In North America alone, the autonomous trucking market is projected to reach $65.4 billion within a decade.

Transitioning this massive industry to an AI-driven, autonomous model could reshape it entirely. Self-driving trucks could operate longer hours, boost fuel efficiency, and reduce costs, while eliminating human fatigue as a safety risk – potentially making highways safer overall. Every aspect of the sector, from fleet management to payroll systems, will need to evolve.

Given these transformative prospects, it’s little wonder that Wall Street’s analysts are becoming increasingly optimistic about autonomous trucking stocks. Using the TipRanks database, we’ll take a closer look at two of their favored picks.

Aurora Innovation (AUR)

We’ll start by looking at Aurora Innovation, an AI tech firm devoted to autonomous vehicle solutions – and with a special focus on the freight industry. The company has created the Aurora Driver, an AI-powered autonomous driving system that was designed from the ground up to fit all types of vehicles. The company has chosen to put it on the road in the trucking industry, and Aurora currently has its system installed and delivering customer loads in Texas.

The autonomous truck system was launched on a Dallas–Houston route in April of this year, and on October 28 it announced the opening of a second route, running from Dallas to El Paso. In the same announcement, Aurora also said that it had surpassed 100,000 driverless truck miles on the open road. The company is running five driverless trucks and so far boasts a perfect safety record.

Aurora has also released specifications for the next generation of its hardware package, designed to improve the performance and durability of the autonomous trucks while significantly reducing costs. The improvements include increased reliability of the system, aimed at a 1 million-mile lifespan; an extended range for the FirstLight LiDAR sensing system to 1,000 meters; and improvements in sensor cleaning for better all-weather operations. Aurora aims to deploy the new hardware by 2027.

What all of this means is that Aurora, a new company that has only been in business since 2017, has already staked out a leading position in the autonomous trucking niche. We should note, however, that like many early-stage, cutting-edge technology ventures, Aurora is still very much a speculative enterprise. The company runs at a net loss and has only been realizing positive revenues since the second quarter of this year.

That said, there are positive signs for the future. The company has plans to expand the Dallas–El Paso route further west, to Phoenix, Arizona, and to improve its nighttime driverless operations. During 3Q25, Aurora generated $1 million in revenue and hauled commercial loads for several companies, including FedEx, Schneider, and Volvo Autonomous Solutions.

Aurora’s continued steps toward full driverless freight service attracted the attention of Oppenheimer’s Colin Rusch, who writes of the company, “AUR continues to execute well on validating incremental capabilities and expanding its commercial routes. Notably in the third quarter the platform substantiated dust management supporting its expansion into Fort Worth/El Paso routes ahead of schedule. At the same time, AUR is executing on commercializing Gen 2 hardware, has started upfitting international trucks, and qualified additional trailer types including single super tires. While revenue remains modest, we believe customers are moving quickly towards larger-scale adoption, with driver response to the technology the biggest concern for fleet operators… While shares have underperformed Physical AI peers YTD, we remain constructive on technology progress.”

Rusch, who is rated by TipRanks among the top 1% of Wall Street’s analysts, sets an Outperform (Buy) rating on AUR shares, and his $15 price target implies a hefty one-year upside potential of 255%. (To watch Rusch’s track record, click here)

Overall, Aurora has earned a Moderate Buy consensus rating from the Street, based on 7 reviews that include 5 Buys and 2 Holds. The shares are currently trading for a price of $4.23, and their $11.50 average target price points toward a gain of 172% on the one-year horizon. (See AUR stock forecast)

Kodiak AI (KDK)

The next stock on our list is Kodiak, an AI firm working to build a safer future on the roads. Like Aurora above, Kodiak has developed an AI-powered autonomous driving system designed from the start as an autonomy solution for a wide range of driving environments. The company has noted that a high proportion – as much as 85% – of truck-involved accidents on US highways are caused by human error and bills its autonomous driving technology as an effort to address road safety and protect lives. The company also points out the efficiency advantages of self-driving trucks, with systems that operate longer hours, with less downtime, at lower fuel and personnel costs. In short, Kodiak aims for its self-driving solutions to lower costs and promote safety in the trucking industry.

Getting to specifics, Kodiak’s Driver, the autonomous AI driving system, can be integrated into a wide range of Class 8 trucks, while the company’s OnTime system is designed to work with company logistics systems to improve scheduling and fleet management. This is a needed adjustment, as logistics for self-driving trucking fleets will be drastically different from the current model based on human operators. The most notable difference will be faster delivery times, as self-driving trucks will be able to drive longer shifts, limited more by fuel capacity than by driver fatigue.

The company is also looking to expand beyond the trucking industry and apply its self-driving technology to other fields. Kodiak is developing driving systems for the defense industry to power the next generation of autonomous ground vehicles (AGVs) and is complementing these systems with military-grade sensors. The system is designed to be adaptable to a wide variety of vehicles and payloads and to protect troops while completing any mission.

On the industrial side, getting off-road, Kodiak is designing its AI driving system to accommodate a wide range of heavy transport. This can range from mining operations to large-scale mineral transport from mines to processing facilities to logging transport. The company’s hardware – the gear to make self-driving industrial vehicles possible – is designed to function under heavily adverse conditions, including high levels of wet, dust, wind, and ambient humidity.

None of this comes cheap, and Kodiak does not yet have any autonomous trucks on the road. To raise the funds needed for a real-world expansion, Kodiak recently entered the public trading markets. The company did so through a SPAC transaction with the Ares Acquisition Corporation II (AACT). The transaction was approved by AACT’s shareholders on September 23 of this year, the combination was completed on September 24, and the KDK ticker started trading on the NASDAQ exchange the next day. The transaction brought more than $212.5 million into Kodiak’s coffers, a total that included, before expenses, $145 million in PIPE funding and $62.9 million in cash from AACT. We’ll see Kodiak’s first earnings release as a public firm, covering 3Q25, on November 12.

Kodiak may be a newly public company, but it has already caught the eye of Northland analyst Michael Latimore. Describing Kodiak’s product as a ‘Big Rig AI that sees, thinks, and drives,’ Latimore writes, “We believe the Kodiak Driver is already safer than a human, opening a massive opportunity. Given virtual drivers more than triple operating profit for trucking companies, demand is basically unlimited at this point we believe. Kodiak has proven out safety cases (via statistical analysis) for the industrial use case in the Permian Basin, and is in the process of completing safety cases for commercial launch by year end FY26… We forecast FY26 revenue of $10.1 million, with Kodiak exiting the year with 100 trucks live. We assume most of the trucks will be in the industrial use case. We forecast $84.5 million for FY27, exiting the year with 850 trucks live. We forecast $325.3 million for FY28, exiting the year with 3,000 trucks live and posting adj EBITDA of $34.5 million.”

These comments back up the analyst’s Outperform (i.e., Buy) rating on KDK. He complements that rating with a price target of $17, which suggests a one-year upside potential of 131%. (To watch Latimore’s track record, click here)

KDK gets support elsewhere on the Street, too; based on Buys only – 4, in total – the stock claims a Strong Buy consensus rating. Going by the $14.5 average target, a year from now, shares will be changing hands for a 97% premium. (See KDK stock forecast)

To find good ideas for stocks trading at attractive valuations, visit TipRanks’ Best Stocks to Buy, a tool that unites all of TipRanks’ equity insights.

Disclaimer: The opinions expressed in this article are solely those of the featured analyst. The content is intended to be used for informational purposes only. It is very important to do your own analysis before making any investment.