What happened
Shares of lidar maker Luminar Technologies (LAZR 4.71%) opened sharply higher on Thursday, after the company announced a new deal to supply lidar systems to Daimler's (DMLR.Y 0.81%) Mercedes-Benz unit. As part of the deal, Mercedes will also take a stake in Luminar.
As of 11 a.m. ET today, Luminar's shares were up about 18.8% from Wednesday's closing price.
So what
Luminar and Mercedes-Benz said that they had agreed to a partnership "to accelerate the development of future highly automated driving technologies for Mercedes passenger cars." As part of the deal, Daimler's North American business unit will take a stake in Luminar.
Luminar CEO Austin Russell (left) with Daimler chief technology officer Markus Schäfer. Image source: Luminar Technologies.
The companies didn't share a whole lot of details around their new arrangement. Here's what we know from the press release and a related regulatory filing.
- Daimler will "develop and integrate [Luminar's] technology on its next-generation series production passenger vehicles." (They'll be Mercedes-Benz models, but we don't know which ones, or when they'll go into production.)
- Daimler will share relevant data from test vehicles and production vehicles with Luminar.
- Daimler will receive 1.5 million shares of Luminar in a series of tranches over time, as certain (undisclosed) milestones are met. (At current prices, that's roughly $22.5 million worth of stock.)
Luminar CEO Austin Russell described the deal as a "landmark moment in the industry" that demonstrates how "substantially increased safety and autonomous driving functions on consumer vehicles are going from sci-fi to mainstream."
Most experts see lidar as a crucial component of driverless-vehicle systems. Luminar, which went public via a reverse merger with a special-purpose acquisition company last year, has spent several years tailoring its products for automotive applications.
That's why Luminar's stock is up today.
Now what
Luminar hasn't set a date for its fourth-quarter and full-year 2021 earnings report, but past practice suggests that it'll happen in mid-February. Investors eager to know more about the status of the company's go-to-market plan and its recent deals with Mercedes-Benz and Volvo Cars (VLVO.F 12.95%) should plan to listen in to the company's earnings call next month.
