Cathie Wood Bets On Joby As Sean Duffy's Advanced Air Mobility Push Targets Air Taxis, Medical Transport

Investor Cathie Wood-led ARK Invest has bought additional shares of Joby Aviation Inc. , as the company announced it was partnering with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) amid the Department of Transportation's (DOT)  eVTOL push.

Urban Air Taxis

On Monday, Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the DOT was undertaking eight new projects as a part of the Advanced Air Mobility pilot program, sharing that the program will "RADICALLY CHANGE the way people and products move."

Duffy also said that the companies in this program will see various applications of eVTOL aircraft, including "urban air taxis, regional travel, cargo logistics, and emergency medicine."

"This will create one of the WORLD's largest testing environments for next-generation aircraft in states all across America," he said, adding that the program was scheduled to kick off in Summer 2026.

Joby Hails Sean Duffy's Announcement

Quoting Duffy's post on Monday, Joby shared that it was collaborating with the FAA "in multiple winning applications for the FAA's eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP)." The company hailed Duffy's move, sharing that "the U.S. took a major step toward leading the next era of aviation."

The program, undertaken by the DOT, would let the company begin operations in 2026 in 10 states across the U.S., with CEO JoeBen Bevirt, hailing it as a "defining moment for American innovation."

Cathie Wood Buys Joby

Wood's investment firm also acquired over 20,309 shares of the company via ARK's Autonomous Technology and Robotics ETF , as well as an additional 7,450 shares via its Space and Defense Innovation ETF .

The trades translated into approximately $276,000, considering Joby's closing price of $10.04 a share on Monday. ARK's total stake in the company is over $51 million.

Uber Air Partnership, Earnings Call

The news comes as Joby's recent partnership with Uber Technologies Inc., which sees all-electric air taxis operating in Dubai via the official Uber app, also resulted in the company acquiring Uber's Elevate division. The division has been working on developing a ride-hailing network of eVTOL aircraft.

Joby's Q4 earnings also proved to be a tailwind for the company as it reported a quarterly loss of 14 cents per share, which beat the Wall Street expectations of losses amounting to 22 cents per share. It also posted a Q4 revenue of $30.84 million, beating the market consensus estimate of $16.96 million by 81.79%.

According to Benzinga Edge Rankings, Joby offers satisfactory Momentum.

Price Action: JOBY surged 3.78% to $10.42 during overnight trading on Monday.

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Photo courtesy: T. Schneider via Shutterstock