NEW YORK, June 30, 2026, 14:03 EDT
- Joby Aviation Inc NYSE:JOBY shares climbed 3.8% to $8.96 in afternoon trading after news of a Toyota manufacturing JV.
- A June 29 SEC filing says the JV launches with $2.0 million in starting capital. Joby is putting in $980,000, Toyota Motor Corp NYSE:TM is putting in $1.02 million.
- Joby gained about $311 million in market cap after the move, or around 156 times the JV’s starting capital, using Joby’s Q1 share count and that day’s price swing.
- Investors are eyeing not the $2 million JV check, but whether Joby, Toyota, and the joint venture actually execute the follow-on manufacturing and IP deals linked to Toyota’s next $250 million payment.
Joby Aviation Inc NYSE:JOBY climbed Tuesday after Toyota Motor Corp NYSE:TM grabbed majority control of their new manufacturing joint venture. Shares moved much more than the actual cash Toyota put into the business.
Shares of the Santa Cruz, California-based air-taxi developer rose 3.8% to $8.96. More than 33.9 million shares changed hands. Toyota’s U.S.-listed stock slipped 1.8%. Reuters had reported Joby gained 7% in premarket trading after the companies said they would form a joint venture to build Joby’s S4 electric vertical takeoff and landing craft.
The filing lays out the details for investors. Joby gets 49% of Joby Toyota Aero Manufacturing Preparation Company by picking up 980,000 shares for $980,000. Toyota will hold 51% after buying 1,020,000 shares for $1.02 million. Toyota has three board seats, Joby gets two.
| Item | Disclosed or latest figure | Why it matters |
|---|---|---|
| Joby trades in the afternoon | $8.96, up 3.8% | Shares held a portion of the early gains |
| Joby’s market cap | $8.44 billion | Relief on manufacturing risk showed up in valuation |
| Estimated value added today | ~$311 million | Gains topped the size of the JV’s first funding |
| First JV funding | $2.0 million | Just 0.02% of Joby’s total market cap |
| Joby’s cash in the JV | $980,000 | That’s 0.04% of Q1 cash and short-term holdings |
| Toyota’s cash in the JV | $1.02 million | Gets majority but starts with small cash |
The trade is in that gap. With Joby’s Q1 weighted average share count of 943.5 million and Tuesday’s $0.33 share move, the paper profit runs close to $311 million. The JV’s starting cash is just about $2 million. Joby ended March with $2.47 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments.
The joint venture filing says both sides still have to work out future agreements like an exclusive manufacturing supply pact and IP terms. Joby is expected to give the JV exclusive S4 series manufacturing rights and royalty-free manufacturing IP. Toyota would license some of its own manufacturing IP. Either party can walk away if these future deals aren’t reached.
The filing also says Toyota’s next $250 million investment won’t go through until more deals are in place. That puts more weight on the upcoming agreements than the first $2 million Toyota put into the joint venture.
Joby founder and CEO JoeBen Bevirt said Toyota has worked with Joby for nearly ten years and pointed to their “shared confidence in the opportunity ahead.” Toyota Chairman Akio Toyoda described air mobility as a “natural extension” of Toyota’s mobility efforts. Joby Aero, Inc.
| Ticker | Price move | Market value | Volume |
|---|---|---|---|
| Joby Aviation Inc NYSE:JOBY | added 3.8% | $8.44 bln | 33.9 mln |
| Archer Aviation Inc NYSE:ACHR | up 1.3% | $3.63 bln | 20.5 mln |
| Eve Holding Inc (NYSE:EVEX) | rose 3.7% | $0.88 bln | 0.45 mln |
| Vertical Aerospace Ltd NYSE:EVTL | dropped 2.3% | $0.38 bln | 1.35 mln |
| SPDR S&P 500 ETF Trust (NYSEARCA:SPY) | up 0.7% | $660.90 bln | 22.6 mln |
| Invesco QQQ Trust NASDAQ:QQQ | up 1.6% | $350.80 bln | 19.8 mln |
| iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM) | up 0.6% | $78.16 bln | 11.2 mln |
Joby outperformed Archer Aviation Inc NYSE:ACHR, Vertical Aerospace Ltd NYSE:EVTL and the iShares Russell 2000 ETF (NYSEARCA:IWM) on the day. Eve Holding Inc (NYSE:EVEX) also saw gains. The focus stayed on Joby as the Toyota tie-up is being treated by investors as about production risk, not new money.
Cash burn is still an issue. Joby spent $144.4 million in operating cash during Q1, about $1.6 million per day over 90 days. The JV’s initial $2 million stake covers just over a day of that Q1 burn rate.
Joby said in May it’s now got the “clearest path we’ve ever had to beginning passenger operations,” following first-quarter demos and progress on certification. The company also said its first FAA-conforming aircraft has flown, and that it finished the third of four major FAA reviews in the certification process. Joby Aero, Inc.
