Joby Aviation Shares Rally After Getting Permit to Fly First Production Aircraft

By Robb M. Stewart

Joby Aviation's shares hit a fresh 52-week high Wednesday after the company received a permit to fly the first all-electric aircraft built on its production line.

In morning trading, the shares were 23% higher at $7.86, after reaching $8.16 earlier in the session. The stock has more than doubled so far this year.

Joby said it received a special airworthiness certificate from the Federal Aviation Administration for the first aircraft off the line at its Marina, Calif., facility, allowing the company to begin flight testing of the production prototype.

The aircraft is expected to become the first electric vertical take-off and landing aircraft to be delivered to a customer when it moves to Edwards Air Force Base in 2024 to be operated by Joby as part of a contract with the U.S. Air Force worth up to $131 million.

Joby, whose largest external shareholder is Toyota Motor, has been flying full-sized aircraft since 2017 and its pre-production prototype aircraft have flown more than 30,000 miles since 2019.

The company on Wednesday said Tetsuo "Ted" Ogawa, president and chief executive of Toyota Motor North America, will join its board July 1, succeeding James Kuffner as the Toyota representative.

Write to Robb M. Stewart at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

June 28, 2023 10:29 ET (14:29 GMT)

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