JOBY Moves Closer Toward FAA Certification: Scope for More Upside?

Joby Aviation JOBY, which is developing electric air taxis for commercial passenger operations, announced the successful completion of its final international flight demonstration for 2025 at Japan’s Fuji Speedway. The week-long program concluded a year marked by extensive global flight testing and growing operational maturity.

The campaign, conducted in partnership with Toyota Motor TM, involved 14 piloted flights and capped a year in which Joby completed more than 850 flights across its electric air taxi fleet, surpassing 50,000 total flight miles. Toyota has invested $894 million in Joby and plans to invest an additional $250 million, bringing the total investment to nearly $1 billion. The most recent $250 million investment by Toyota was made in two tranches. The capital injection aims to expedite Joby’s certification process and commercial production.

Coming back to the above exercise, it represented a 2.6-fold increase in operational pace compared with the previous year. The expanded flight activity played a key role in validating the aircraft’s design and manufacturing processes required for FAA Type Certification and supports the company’s objective of launching passenger services in 2026.

According to Joby’s chief test pilot, James Denham, 2025 marked the most comprehensive and demanding flight-testing period in its history. The Fuji Speedway demonstrations followed a series of major operational milestones achieved throughout the year. Joby conducted flight operations in the United States, the United Arab Emirates and Japan, including 41 flights at the World Expo 2025 in Osaka and 21 flights in the UAE during an environmental and operational testing campaign. The company also became the only electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft manufacturer to fly at the week-long Dubai Airshow.

In preparation for commercial service, Joby completed multiple point-to-point flights between public airports with active commercial traffic. These included flights between Marina and Monterey in California, Marina and Salinas during the California International Airshow and the first piloted point-to-point air taxi flight in the UAE, linking Joby’s Margham test facility with Al Maktoum International Airport ahead of the Dubai Airshow.

The year also featured demonstrations of future technologies. Joby successfully flew its turbine-electric demonstrator aircraft within three months of announcing the concept, underscoring rapid development capabilities. In addition, its Superpilot autonomous flight system accumulated more than 7,000 miles during a major U.S. defense exercise over the Pacific Ocean.

Overall, Joby’s electric air taxi flights in 2025 exceeded 9,000 miles and enabled the completion of more than 4,900 test points, reinforcing progress toward commercial readiness. The flight data and insights gathered this year are directly contributing to the final phases of Joby’s FAA certification process, including providing the compliance data required to initiate Type Inspection Authorization flight testing in 2026.

Taking a Look at Another eVTOL Player

Joby’s main rival in the eVTOL space is Archer Aviation ACHR. In December, Archer Aviation shared its plan to build an air taxi network in the Miami metropolitan area. This initiative is meant to help people avoid road traffic and offer a safe and efficient new way to travel across the fast-growing region.

Moreover, Archer Aviation recently entered into a partnership with Karem Aircraft. Through this collaboration, Archer Aviation will gain access to Karem’s advanced rotor and tiltrotor technologies for the next-generation autonomous, hybrid-propulsion VTOL aircraft, supporting its goal of developing a dual-use aircraft that can meet the needs of both commercial users and military operators.

Joby’s Price, Valuation & Earnings Estimates

Shares of Joby have gained in double digits over the past six months, outperforming the Zacks Aerospace-Defense industry. 

6-Month Price Comparison

From a valuation perspective, Joby is trading at a premium compared with its industry. Joby carries a Value Score of F.

The Zacks Consensus Estimate for JOBY’s fourth-quarter 2025, first-quarter 2026, full-year 2025 and 2026 losses have widened over the past 60 days.

JOBY’s Zacks Rank

JOBY currently carries a Zacks Rank #3 (Hold). You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.

Want the latest recommendations from Zacks Investment Research? Today, you can download 7 Best Stocks for the Next 30 Days. Click to get this free report

This article originally published on Zacks Investment Research (zacks.com).

Zacks Investment Research