Why Aurora Innovation, Inc. (AUR) Went Up On Friday

We recently published a list of What Propelled These 10 Firms’ Double-Digit Gains? In this article, we are going to take a look at where Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) stands against other Friday's top performers.

The stock market ended the trading week on a strong note, with all major indices clocking in strong gains, as investors cheered better-than-expected non-farm payrolls last month while digesting more corporate earnings results.

The tech-heavy Nasdaq led the rally among all major indices, finishing up by 1.51 percent. The S&P 500 clocked in a 1.47-percent gain, while the Dow Jones grew by 1.39 percent.

Ten companies also mimicked the broader market optimism following impressive earnings performance and an optimistic outlook for the rest of the year. In this article, we have identified the 10 top performers on Friday and detailed the reasons behind their gains.

To come up with the list, we considered only the stocks with a $2-billion market capitalization and $5-million trading volume.

Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR)

Aurora Innovation surged by 18.31 percent on Friday to end at $8.14 apiece as investors cheered its successful launch of driverless trucks in Texas and plans to expand the project into more cities.

According to the company, it began regular driverless customer deliveries between Dallas and Houston this week which completed more than 1,200 miles without a driver.

The milestone makes Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) the first company to operate a commercial self-driving service with heavy-duty trucks on public roads.

“Riding in the back seat for our inaugural trip was an honor of a lifetime – the Aurora Driver performed perfectly and it’s a moment I’ll never forget,” said Aurora Innovation, Inc. (NASDAQ:AUR) CEO Chris Urmson.

“Our commitment to building a transformative technology, earning trust, and assembling a strong ecosystem of customers and partners has made this pivotal milestone possible,” he added.

The company also plans to expand its driverless service to El Paso, Texas, and Phoenix, Arizon,a by the end of the year.

Overall, AUR ranks 2nd on our list of Friday's top performers. While we acknowledge the potential of AUR as an investment, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns and doing so within a shorter time frame. There is an AI stock that went up since the beginning of 2025, while popular AI stocks lost around 25%. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than AUR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about this cheapest AI stock.

READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires.

Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.