How AUR (Aurora Innovation) Makes Money in 2026: A Deep-Dive With Income Statement

Welcome to the Value Sense Blog, your resource for insights on the stock market! At Value Sense, we focus on intrinsic value tools and offer stock ideas with undervalued companies. Dive into our research products and learn more about our unique approach at valuesense.io

Explore diverse stock ideas covering technology, healthcare, and commodities sectors. Our insights are crafted to help investors spot opportunities in undervalued growth stocks, enhancing potential returns. Visit us to see evaluations and in-depth market research.

Understanding how a technology company like AUR makes money is essential for investors and anyone interested in the business of autonomous technology. In this post, we break down AUR's quarterly income statement (Q3 2025) using a Sankey chart to visualize the financial flows — what comes in, where it goes, and what's left as profit.

Quick AUR Overview

AUR operates as an autonomous vehicle technology company, developing software and hardware for self-driving systems in trucking and logistics. Revenue comes primarily from development contracts, pilot programs, and early commercialization partnerships with fleet operators. The business focuses on a single core segment of autonomous trucking technology, with additional income from other sources contributing to profitability.

Revenue Breakdown

• Total Revenue (Q3 2025): $1.0M (YoY growth: N/A)
  • Revenue: $1.0M (100% of total)
  • Growth is powered by early-stage commercialization and partnerships in autonomous trucking.

Gross Profit and Margins

• Gross Profit: -$5.0M (-500% gross margin)
  • Cost of Revenue: $6.0M (-45.5% YoY)
  • AUR maintains negative margins due to high upfront costs in hardware prototyping and testing for autonomous systems.
• Most costs come from hardware development, sensor integration, and pilot program deployments.

Operating Income and Expenses

• Operating Income: Not reported (implied negative based on structure)
• Operating Expenses: $217.0K (+10.7% YoY)
  • R&D: $179.0K (+5.9% YoY, 17900% of revenue) — focused on advancing autonomous driving algorithms, sensor fusion, and vehicle integration for commercial trucking.
  • SG&A: $38.0K (+40.7% YoY, 3800% of revenue) — covers administrative functions, sales outreach to logistics partners, and scaling operations.
  • AUR continues to prioritize innovation while expanding operations in the competitive autonomous vehicle space.

Net Income

• Pre-Tax Income: Not reported
• Income Tax: Not reported (0% effective tax rate)
• Net Income: $201.0K (-3.4% YoY, 20100% net margin)
• AUR converts a significant portion of sales into profit due to other income sources offsetting high costs and losses in core operations.

Most investors waste time on the wrong metrics. We've spent 10,000+ hours perfecting our value investing engine to find what actually matters.

Want to see what we'll uncover next - before everyone else does?

Find Hidden Gems First!

What Drives AUR's Money Machine?

• Revenue: 100% of revenue from autonomous technology development and pilots.
• Other Income: Key metric with $201.0K contributing positively, likely from grants, partnerships, or non-operating gains.
• R&D Investment: Heavy focus on software and AI for self-driving trucks to achieve Level 4 autonomy.
• Future growth areas: Commercial deployment in freight hauling, though core operations remain unprofitable amid scaling.

Visualizing AUR's Financial Flows

The Sankey chart below visualizes how each dollar flows from gross revenue, through costs and expenses, down to net income. This helps investors spot where value is created, what areas weigh on profits, and how efficiently the company operates.

• Most revenue flows into gross profit, with operating expenses (especially R&D) taking the largest chunk.
• Even after significant costs, other income drives 20.1% of revenue to the bottom line.

Key Takeaways

• AUR's money comes overwhelmingly from autonomous technology revenue and other income sources.
• High net margins illustrate the power of AUR's strategic partnerships and non-operating gains despite operational losses.
• Heavy investment in R&D, balanced by efficiency in containing operating expense growth.
• Ongoing growth is driven by advancements in autonomous trucking technology.

Explore More Investment Opportunities

For investors seeking undervalued companies with high fundamental quality, our analytics team provides curated stock lists:

📌 50 Undervalued Stocks (Best overall value plays for 2026)

📌 50 Undervalued Dividend Stocks (For income-focused investors)

📌 50 Undervalued Growth Stocks (High-growth potential with strong fundamentals)

🔍 Check out these stocks on the Value Sense platform for free!

FAQ About AUR's Income Statement

1. What is the main source of AUR's revenue in 2025?

AUR generates over 100% of its revenue from autonomous technology development and pilot programs. Additional income from other sources like partnerships bolsters the bottom line.

2. How profitable is AUR in Q3 2025?

AUR reported net income of $201.0K in Q3 2025, with a net margin of approximately 20100%, reflecting strong profitability driven by other income despite gross losses.

3. What are the largest expense categories for AUR?

The biggest expenses on AUR's income statement are operating expenses, particularly Research & Development (R&D) and Sales, General & Administrative (SG&A) costs. R&D investment reached $179.0K in Q3 2025, as AUR prioritizes autonomous driving software and hardware.

4. Why does the core segment operate at a loss?

Revenue, despite generating $1.0M in Q3 2025, is overshadowed by a $6.0M cost of revenue. This is because AUR aggressively invests in prototyping and testing for autonomous trucking, believing these will drive long-term growth—even if unprofitable today.

5. How does AUR's effective tax rate compare to previous years?

AUR's effective tax rate in Q3 2025 was 0%, consistent with previous years. This low rate is primarily due to net operating loss carryforwards and startup-phase tax benefits in the technology sector.