Google-backed Waymo (GOOGL) is significantly expanding its robotaxi business, which already completes over 250,000 paid rides each week in cities like Phoenix, San Francisco, Los Angeles, and Austin. As a result, the company plans to launch in Atlanta, Miami, and Washington, D.C. by 2026 in order to meet the growing demand. To support this, Waymo is building a large, 239,000-square-foot factory in Metro Phoenix with Magna International (MGA) that will produce thousands of Jaguar I-PACE vehicles equipped with Waymo’s autonomous technology.
Interestingly, the new factory is designed for speed and efficiency. Indeed, automated assembly lines will allow vehicles to be checked and ready for service within hours, which will cut down costs and time. When running at full capacity, the factory will be able to produce tens of thousands of fully autonomous vehicles each year. Waymo is also expanding its operations through partnerships. This includes working with Moove for fleet management and collaborating with Toyota (TM) to bring Waymo’s technology to more car models.
Unsurprisingly, Waymo’s growth could shake up the ride-hailing industry, and companies like Uber (UBER) and Lyft (LYFT) will undoubtedly be watching closely as Waymo gains more market share. However, it is worth mentioning that the firm is much more likely to work together with Uber and Lyft in order to gain access to their extensive user bases. In addition, Waymo will definitely provide competition to Tesla’s (TSLA) robotaxi whenever that gets rolled out.
Is Google Stock a Good Buy?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Strong Buy consensus rating on GOOGL stock based on 30 Buys and 10 Holds assigned in the past three months. Furthermore, the average GOOGL price target of $199.68 per share implies 20.9% upside potential from current levels.
