Can You Buy Zoox Stock/IPO?

Zoox is making waves in the investor community. It is one of the startups that might become a big autonomous mobility player worldwide.

Many are asking – can you buy Zoox stock, and if so, what are its ticker symbol and stock price?

We give all the answers below.

Can You Buy Zoox Stock?

Zoox is not a publicly traded company. There is no way to buy its stock through the normal route as of now.

Fortunately, there is an indirect route to access Zoox for interested folks.

We will explain all about Zoox, its business model, competitors, and how you can put your money into this exciting startup below.

About Zoox

Zoox is a robotics startup developing self-driving technology for the ridesharing market.

It was founded in 2014 by Tim Kentley-Klay and Dr. Jesse Levinson.

While the former became the CEO, the latter took on the role of chief technology officer.

The startup is based out of Foster City, California. Its name comes from a creature called Zooxanthellae.

These are cells that reside within corals and help them survive with near-zero waste. The founders felt that it blends well with the EV-based vehicle concept of the firm.

Zoox unveiled its first autonomous electronic vehicle for the robotaxi market in December 2020.

It is a four-person vehicle with carriage-style seating (seats facing each other).

It was merely 12 feet long and designed specifically for high-density urban areas.

This is one of the key focus areas for the firm.

The car is claimed to have a top speed of 75 mph and a run time of 16 hours with a full charge.

Who Owns the Company?

Currently, Zoox is owned by Amazon.

During its launch phase, Zoox raised about $800 mn from a consortium of Venture capital investors (2014).

In 2018, it received series B funding of $500mn. This made its post-money valuation $3.2 billion.

Two years later, in 2020, Amazon acquired Zoox for $1.2 billion.

The e-commerce giant has focused a lot on autonomous delivery in recent years, and the buyout was in line with this direction.

This purchase garnered a lot of interest from industry experts.

It is believed that Zoox’s autonomous technology could be a major disrupter for the rideshare industry.

By some estimates, this is an $86 billion worldwide industry, growing at a 16% CAGR.

Currently, Uber dominates the sector, with strong competition from Lyft.

Completely autonomous taxis could change the entire economics of the business.

Amazon might even be eyeing a piece of this huge industry.

Revenue

As per Growjo, Zoox made a revenue of $897 mn before the acquisition.

However, as a part of Amazon, its financials are not available separately.

We do not have any means to share an accurate estimate of the company’s current revenues.

As per reports, Amazon is reportedly spending close to $1 bn a year on Zoox and might even increase the outlay further.

How Does It Make Money?

Zoox was the first company to gain approval to test driverless automobiles on public roads in California in 2018.

The firm is also reported to be very near to launching its fleet of driverless taxis in major cities such as Las Vegas, San Francisco, and Seattle.

If it can carry through these plans successfully, the company can offer stiff competition to ride-hailing app firms like Uber and Lyft.

Without the need to pay for driver commissions, it might be able to offer lower fares.

This would introduce stiff competition in an otherwise near-duopoly sector.

How to Invest in Zoox

As mentioned, Zoox stock is not available to invest directly in because it is not a public company.

Those looking to get their hands on it can buy Amazon shares instead.

If Zoox can achieve what it promises, its fortunes may be visible in the stock price of its parent company at some point.

Moreover, Zoox is not the only startup Amazon acquired in the EV space.

It also took a stake in Rivian, another EV manufacturer. Rivian is expected to unveil an electric pickup truck in the near future.

Therefore, folks eyeing the EV space should surely keep an eye on this stock.

Keep in mind, though, that buying Amazon stock is not the same as investing in Zoox.

Its flagship business is e-commerce, and it also has exposure to cloud services, grocery stores, and pharmacies.

In fact, the firm had $469.822 billion in revenues in 2021, which would make its EV business just pocket-change.

When you buy Amazon shares, it gives you the risks and rewards of all these disparate industries.

Hence, it might be wise to fully evaluate this option.

Stock Price

Zoox is a fully-owned Amazon subsidiary. Hence there is no separate price available for its shares.

Hypothetically, the parent company might choose to spin it off in the future.

We looked at key competitors of Zoox to determine what share price it might list itself on if this happens.

Based on this analysis, a $10 to $50 price range might be plausible for the firm.

Keep in mind that offer prices are subject to several complex financial considerations.

Hence, these are just guesstimates at best.

Ticker Symbol

As of now, Zoox is part of Amazon; therefore, there is no separate ticker symbol for the business.

However, if Amazon chooses to separate it out at some point, here are a few possible ticker symbols choices:

1. ZOOX
2. ZOOK
3. AMZX

Until the company files a form S-1 with the Securities and Exchange Commission, it is impossible to tell what the symbol might be.

Competitors You Can Invest In

The autonomous vehicle sector is seeing a lot of action these days, but mostly from startups.

Apart from Zoox, there is the Alphabet (NASDAQ: GOOG) subsidiary Waymo. It already has a driverless taxi service in Phoenix.

Another key competitor is Motional, a joint venture between Hyundai and auto manufacturer Aptiv.

Motional has partnered with both Uber and Lyft to supply its autonomous cars.

Cruise is a driverless car maker that is backed by auto manufacturer GM.

It is currently in the testing stage for fully autonomous mobility vehicles.

Unfortunately, none of these are public companies right now.

Below, we have listed businesses that are part of the same industry and are working to implement autonomous vehicles right now.

Uber (NYSE: UBER)

Uber is clearly the one whose business will be most threatened by driverless cars from Zoox and others.

Not to be left behind, the firm is making big strides to stay competitive.

In 2020, it inked a deal with Motional to provide its autonomous cars to the ridesharing giant.

This service is already available in Las Vegas, where customers can choose to hail a self-driving car through Uber’s platform.

Currently, the cars come with two vehicle operators to monitor everything, but Uber plans to start fully autonomous cabs by 2023.

In its 2021 fiscal year results, Uber achieved $25.9 bn in gross bookings, which was 51% higher than the pandemic hit the previous year.

Moreover, it ended the year with a positive $86 mn EBITDA.

Lyft (NASDAQ: LYFT)

Lyft is number two in the ridesharing sector and is not far behind in implementing autonomous mobility.

The firm has partnered with Motional and Waymo for this purpose.

It claims to have already surpassed more than 100,000+ paid autonomous rides, with a very high satisfaction level from customers.

In its latest annual report for the fiscal year 2021, Lyft saw a revenue of $3.2bn, up 36% from the previous year.

The net losses for the firm dropped from $1.8 bn to $1 bn.

Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)

Uber and Lyft are not direct competitors to Zoox. However, as a car manufacturer, Tesla definitely is.

Tesla has had a partially autonomous riding mode in its vehicles called “Autopilot” since 2015.

In its Q4 investor report, Tesla announced the launch of Full Self Drive (FSD) Beta to nearly 400,000 customers in the US and Canada.

The FSD mode has been in testing for more than two years already.

Tesla has been working on this technology for quite some time, which could make it a strong option for investors.

The firm has had exceptional financials in the last few years.

In FY 22, its total revenue reached $81.5 billion (51% growth), and net income nearly doubled to $12.6 billion.

Buy the Zoox IPO or No?

Considering that Zoox is currently a part of Amazon, it is unlikely that we will see an IPO.

However, in case it ever happens, Zoox might be a good option to watch out for.

Given the size of the ride-hailing industry, there is huge potential for autonomous vehicle manufacturers.

This is probably why big names like Amazon, Tesla, Apple, GM, and Hyundai are investing heavily and buying out startups in this sector.

However – a word of caution here. We don’t have any information as to the financials of Zoox.

It is difficult to predict the right economics that will make the technology investment in this firm profitable.

If it ever happens, investors should carefully go through the filing and understand the numbers before putting their money into it.

Final Thoughts

The autonomous vehicle market is hotting up, with many big names nearing the launch of their service.

Zoox has been a front-runner in building this technology, having been founded in 2014 and already started service in some cities.

Unfortunately, with Amazon buying out the business in 2020, retail investors do not have any option to sink their teeth into it directly.

The only option right now is to put the money in Amazon directly instead.

We have also listed some of the key publicly traded firms in the driverless car ecosystem.

All said and done, this is a key sector to watch out for any opportunities available.