The biggest story in June concerning autonomous driving was Tesla‘s long-awaited robotaxi launch, but the news surrounding Uber Technologies (UBER -1.19%) could have a bigger impact in the near term.
Shares of Uber climbed 10.9% in June, according to data provided by S&P Global Market Intelligence, on investor excitement about the company offering autonomous rideshare services in a second major U.S. market.
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Uber and Waymo extend their alliance
Uber is perhaps the biggest name in ridesharing and initially had hoped to develop its own self-driving vehicle, but the company, in recent years, has been more focused on partnering with others. The approach has allowed Uber to offer customers in select markets access to self-driving vehicles well ahead of its competition.
In June, Uber began offering self-driving rides in Atlanta using Alphabet‘s Waymo service. Uber is the only way to book Waymo rides across a 65-square-mile stretch of the Georgia city.
This is the second market where the two companies have partnered. Uber said that there are about 100 Waymo vehicles in Austin, Texas, available on its platform and said customers have given the Waymo vehicles an average rating of 4.9 out of 5 stars.
Is Uber stock a buy?
For years, investors have seen proprietary autonomous technology as a must-have for companies hoping to offer autonomous rideshare services. But as the vehicles roll out from a number of vendors in the years to come, it appears the actual technology could become commoditized.
Uber, by virtue of the size and reach of its app and existing platform, has a built-in advantage of a ready-made customer list. By partnering with Waymo and other vendors, Uber gets the best of both worlds: Advancing driverless rideshare without spending billions to develop the tech.
Investors excited about the potential of autonomous rideshare should consider giving Uber shares a test drive.
Suzanne Frey, an executive at Alphabet, is a member of The Motley Fool’s board of directors. Lou Whiteman has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Alphabet, Tesla, and Uber Technologies. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
