Joby Aviation Stock Takes Flight As Retail Buzz Builds Around Potential $1B Saudi Air Taxi Deal

Joby Aviation’s (JOBY) stock jumped over 7% on Tuesday, leading to a spike in retail investor chatter, after the company signed a non-binding agreement with Saudi Arabian conglomerate Abdul Latif Jameel to explore opportunities to distribute air taxis.

The companies said they would initially focus on Saudi Arabia, the Jeddah-based company’s home turf, with the potential delivery of up to 200 Joby aircraft and related services valued at about $1 billion.

The potential tie-up between the two companies follows U.S. President Donald Trump’s visit to the Kingdom, where Crown Prince Mohammed bin Salman pledged to invest $600 billion into the U.S.

The two businesses issued a joint statement stating that they would explore distribution and sales collaborations, launch local air taxi services, establish aftermarket services, and train pilots.

“Saudi Arabia is transitioning toward a new era of mobility - one that is on-demand, shared, connected, and sustainable. eVTOL is an exciting and important component of this,” Hassan Jameel, the Vice Chairman of the Saudi Group’s domestic operations, said.

Joby and its rivals are developing electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, which many cities consider a viable commute mode to cut vehicle emissions and road congestion.

The Jameel family had invested in Joby’s Series-C funding round, which Toyota Motor Corp. led in 2020.

Retail sentiment on Stocktwits was in the ‘bullish’ (66/100) territory on Tuesday, while retail chatter was ‘extremely high’ as message volumes rose 284%.

One retail trader said that Joby’s model is the most advanced eVTOL and the most efficiently designed.

“I think you're seeing some profit taking and then some shorts fighting for their lives,” one trader said after the stock pared some gains.

Joby stock has fallen 2.6% year to date (YTD).

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