NVIDIA Partnership to Accelerate Autonomous Flight Development
Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) shares experienced a significant surge of 7.50%, reaching $16.77 in premarket trading as of 5:54 AM EDT on October 29, 2025. This upward movement followed an announcement detailing a major partnership with NVIDIA. Joby, an electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer, has been selected as NVIDIA’s exclusive aviation launch partner for its new IGX Thor platform, which is powered by the NVIDIA Blackwell architecture.
This collaboration represents a pivotal moment for Joby, as it aims to expedite the development of its autonomous flight technology, known as Superpilot™. The technology is being advanced for both military and civil applications.
Integrating NVIDIA's AI Technology into Joby's Flight Autonomy Roadmap
The partnership between Joby and NVIDIA focuses on integrating the IGX Thor compute platform with Joby’s Superpilot™ technology. This integration is intended to enable real-time autonomous capabilities that are essential for safety-critical defense and civil applications. According to Gregor Veble Mikić, Flight Research Lead at Joby, the autonomous systems currently under development are designed to augment human intelligence. They are intended to provide advantages in speed, precision, and stamina that exceed human capabilities alone.
This collaboration will facilitate the implementation of advanced onboard capabilities. These include autonomous mission management, radar and perception processing, and sensor fusion.
NVIDIA's commitment to supporting industry-recognized functional safety standards on the IGX Thor platform is crucial. It allows Joby to pursue certifiable autonomy for defense applications in the near term. For civil applications, this pathway will be pursued as regulatory frameworks evolve over time.
Furthermore, the partnership lays the groundwork for the development of enhanced features. These include predictive system health monitoring and "digital twin" modeling. Such advancements have the potential to optimize aircraft performance and efficiency. By combining NVIDIA’s computing power with Joby’s aircraft design, this integration aims to usher in a new era of safety-focused autonomy in aviation.
Joby Outpaces Broader Market Amid Expanding Autonomous Vision
Following the announcement, Joby Aviation stock initially saw a substantial increase of 8% in after-hours trading on October 28, 2025. This followed a regular trading session where the stock closed down 4.23% at $15.61. The upward momentum continued into premarket trading on October 29, with shares rising 7.50% to $16.77 as of 5:54 AM EDT.
The company has demonstrated robust performance year-to-date, achieving a 92% gain. This significantly surpasses the S&P 500's return of 17.16%. Over the past year, JOBY stock has surged by 196.20%, indicating growing investor confidence in the eVTOL sector.
Joby Aviation currently holds a market capitalization of $13.909 billion. Its 52-week trading range has been between $4.80 and $20.95. Despite operating at a loss with negative earnings per share of -$1.07 and minimal revenue of $98,000, analyst sentiment remains cautiously optimistic. The average analyst price target is set at $12.17, with individual targets ranging from $6.00 to $22.00.
Morgan Stanley recently revised its price target upward from $7 to $15. The firm maintained an Equal-Weight rating, suggesting that the NVIDIA partnership could serve as a significant catalyst for the company's autonomous technology roadmap. This development is particularly relevant as Joby continues to develop electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft for commercial passenger service.