AUR Q3 2024 Earnings

Call Details

• Call Title: Aurora Innovation, Inc. Q3 2024 Earnings Call
• Date: October 30, 2024 at 9:00 PM UTC
• Management Team:
  • Stacy Feit (Vice President of Investor Relations)
  • Chris Urmson (Chief Executive Officer)
  • David Maday (Chief Financial Officer)

Call Summary

Financial Performance

• Third quarter 2024 operating expenses, including stock-based compensation, totaled $196 million.
• Excluding stock-based compensation, third quarter operating expenses totaled $161 million.
• R&D expenses excluding stock-based compensation totaled $139 million and included $834,000 in pilot revenue that is recorded as contra R&D and was up 75% year-over-year.
• SG&A expenses excluding stock-based compensation were $22 million for the quarter.
• Aurora used approximately $143 million in operating cash during the third quarter of 2024 and recorded $7 million in capital expenditures.
• The company reported non-GAAP measures and stated that reconciliations are available in the shareholder letter and Form 8-K.
• Cumulative pilot activity to date includes more than 8,200 autonomously delivered loads and over 2.2 million commercial miles with nearly 100% on-time performance.

Guidance

• Aurora expects to launch commercially in April 2025, which the company described as modestly later than intended but within previously communicated error bars.
• The company expects 100% API loads to reach approximately 90% by commercial launch.
• Aurora expects to operate at least 10 trucks per remote assistance specialist by the end of 2025 and to increase that ratio through 2026.
• During launch, Aurora expects to deploy up to 10 driverless trucks, starting with one driverless truck and transitioning the balance to driverless.
• Aurora expects to expand to 'tens of trucks' by the end of 2025 and to continue adding lanes and capabilities in the second half of 2025.
• For the fourth quarter of 2024, Aurora expects cash use to be within a $175 to $185 million quarterly average range and expects the 2025 quarterly average cash use to be in this same range.
• The company stated the April 2025 launch timing will have a negligible financial impact on scaling and does not change their path to self-funding.