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AEVA vs. LAZR: Which LiDAR Stock Is the Better Bet Now?
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Aeva Technologies (AEVA - Free Report) and Luminar Technologies (LAZR - Free Report) are two front-runners in the evolving LiDAR space, each aiming to capitalize on the demand for sensing systems in autonomous vehicles, industrial automation and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Both companies have recently made strategic pivots and technological advances, drawing attention from investors looking to ride the next wave of transportation innovation.
LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser and continuously scans the environment in front of a vehicle. It enables an accurate and high-precision estimate of the shape and size of objects in three-dimensional understanding of the surroundings. It is gaining popularity as a crucial technology for the safe and efficient operation of autonomous machines.
Despite both firms operating in the same LiDAR vertical, their paths diverge in key areas such as commercialization timelines, customer wins, financial discipline, and capital market strategies. As LiDAR gains traction beyond self-driving into broader safety applications, comparing AEVA and LAZR now is timely. Both offer high-risk, high-reward potential, but the difference lies in their pace of execution and readiness to scale.
Let’s dive deep and closely compare the fundamentals of the two stocks to determine which one is a better investment now.
The Case for AEVA Stock
Expanding Momentum and Industrial Diversification: Aeva Technologies has seen a surge in activity throughout 2025, fueled by developments beyond the core automotive market. The company’s 4D LiDAR, built on Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) technology, provides real-time velocity and depth data — setting it apart from traditional time-of-flight (ToF) systems. This technological edge is helping AEVA broaden its reach into industrial applications, where precision and reliability are critical, and opens doors to a wider array of end markets.
Big Wins With Tier-One Players: AEVA’s partnership pipeline is robust. A Fortune 500 tech company recently committed up to $50 million — $32.5 million in equity and $17.5 million in manufacturing support — and is expected to act as AEVA’s Tier 2 supplier for a top-10 global passenger OEM. The program could scale to multiple models, positioning Aeva Technologies to lock in long-term supply agreements. Management also highlighted a signed letter of intent from that OEM, signaling a potential production award as early as late 2025.
Industrial Expansion and Capacity Building: Unlike many LiDAR players that are heavily reliant on automotive production ramps, AEVA is making a smart push into high-margin industrial sectors. It has secured over 1,000 orders for its Eve 1 precision sensor and is working with customers like SICK AG and LMI Technologies, which serve a combined addressable market of roughly 2 million units annually. Aeva Technologies is targeting 100,000 units in annual production capacity by the end of 2025.
The Case for LAZR Stock
Strategic Liquidity Moves and Deleveraging: Luminar has taken deliberate steps to reinforce its balance sheet. Through repurchasing $50 million of its 2026 convertible notes using a mix of cash and equity, and securing a $200 million capital facility from institutional investors, Luminar has improved its liquidity runway through at least the end of 2026. With roughly $400 million in total liquidity and a reduced debt load of $135 million, Luminar is better positioned to fund the transition to its new Halo platform without relying on near-term revenue inflection.
Halo Platform Offers a Streamlined Path Forward: The company’s pivot to a single, unified LiDAR system — Halo — is gaining momentum. OEMs are migrating away from Luminar’s legacy Iris system, opting instead for the Halo architecture, which promises quicker deployment, lower development costs, and greater commercial scalability. Prototypes are already in customer hands, with a formal launch expected in late 2026 or early 2027. This shift could position Luminar as a volume-ready LiDAR supplier capable of capturing significant market share in ADAS and safety systems.
Solid Industrial and Automotive Partnerships: Luminar’s agreements extend beyond passenger vehicles. Its LiDAR will be featured in Caterpillar’s off-highway trucks, targeting quarry and aggregate operations, offering validation in demanding environments. Automotive-wise, it’s already live on the Volvo EX90 and will soon be featured on the Volvo ES90, representing the only high-performance LiDAR system standard on global production vehicles.
Price Performance
Aeva Technologies has climbed nearly 240% year to date, largely fueled by new industrial and OEM partnership announcements. The rapid upswing reflects growing market optimism, though it raises questions about how much near-term success is already priced in. On the other hand, LAZR is down around 31% this year, weighed by commercialization delays and cash flow concerns. Still, if it can deliver on its Halo roadmap, the current valuation could present an attractive opportunity.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Valuation
Valuation is where the contrast becomes stark. AEVA currently trades at a forward sales multiple of approximately 31.6, signaling aggressive investor expectations for future growth. LAZR, on the other hand, trades at just 1.6X forward sales, offering a more grounded valuation despite its early production wins and robust capital runway. This gap suggests that AEVA’s stock price may already be baking in a lot of future success, while LAZR may present a value opportunity.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
EPS Estimates
Both companies are still in the red but are showing signs of improvement. Analysts forecast AEVA’s EPS to improve by 21.7% in 2025 and another 12.2% in 2026, driven by early industrial revenues and potential automotive ramp-ups.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Luminar, however, is expected to post a stronger recovery with a 53.6% EPS improvement in 2025, followed by 7.5% in 2026. These forecasts imply that LAZR could deliver stronger bottom-line leverage as revenues scale from existing programs.
Image Source: Zacks Investment Research
Conclusion
AEVA and LAZR are both navigating the early stages of LiDAR commercialization, each with unique strengths. AEVA stands out with fresh momentum, strategic wins across verticals, and rapid industrial expansion. However, its stretched valuation and continued cash burn temper near-term upside. LAZR, on the other hand, offers better valuation support and a clearer path toward high-volume deployment through its streamlined Halo platform and strong balance sheet.
Both stocks currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), reflecting optimistic earnings outlooks and improving investor sentiment. In the end, the choice comes down to investor preference: AEVA for early-stage hypergrowth and vertical diversification, or LAZR for strategic discipline and deeper institutional backing. Either way, both are well worth investing in the LiDAR race.
Image: Bigstock
AEVA vs. LAZR: Which LiDAR Stock Is the Better Bet Now?
Aeva Technologies (AEVA - Free Report) and Luminar Technologies (LAZR - Free Report) are two front-runners in the evolving LiDAR space, each aiming to capitalize on the demand for sensing systems in autonomous vehicles, industrial automation and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). Both companies have recently made strategic pivots and technological advances, drawing attention from investors looking to ride the next wave of transportation innovation.
LiDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) is a remote sensing method that uses light in the form of a pulsed laser and continuously scans the environment in front of a vehicle. It enables an accurate and high-precision estimate of the shape and size of objects in three-dimensional understanding of the surroundings. It is gaining popularity as a crucial technology for the safe and efficient operation of autonomous machines.
Despite both firms operating in the same LiDAR vertical, their paths diverge in key areas such as commercialization timelines, customer wins, financial discipline, and capital market strategies. As LiDAR gains traction beyond self-driving into broader safety applications, comparing AEVA and LAZR now is timely. Both offer high-risk, high-reward potential, but the difference lies in their pace of execution and readiness to scale.
Let’s dive deep and closely compare the fundamentals of the two stocks to determine which one is a better investment now.
The Case for AEVA Stock
Expanding Momentum and Industrial Diversification: Aeva Technologies has seen a surge in activity throughout 2025, fueled by developments beyond the core automotive market. The company’s 4D LiDAR, built on Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) technology, provides real-time velocity and depth data — setting it apart from traditional time-of-flight (ToF) systems. This technological edge is helping AEVA broaden its reach into industrial applications, where precision and reliability are critical, and opens doors to a wider array of end markets.
Big Wins With Tier-One Players: AEVA’s partnership pipeline is robust. A Fortune 500 tech company recently committed up to $50 million — $32.5 million in equity and $17.5 million in manufacturing support — and is expected to act as AEVA’s Tier 2 supplier for a top-10 global passenger OEM. The program could scale to multiple models, positioning Aeva Technologies to lock in long-term supply agreements. Management also highlighted a signed letter of intent from that OEM, signaling a potential production award as early as late 2025.
Industrial Expansion and Capacity Building: Unlike many LiDAR players that are heavily reliant on automotive production ramps, AEVA is making a smart push into high-margin industrial sectors. It has secured over 1,000 orders for its Eve 1 precision sensor and is working with customers like SICK AG and LMI Technologies, which serve a combined addressable market of roughly 2 million units annually. Aeva Technologies is targeting 100,000 units in annual production capacity by the end of 2025.
The Case for LAZR Stock
Strategic Liquidity Moves and Deleveraging: Luminar has taken deliberate steps to reinforce its balance sheet. Through repurchasing $50 million of its 2026 convertible notes using a mix of cash and equity, and securing a $200 million capital facility from institutional investors, Luminar has improved its liquidity runway through at least the end of 2026. With roughly $400 million in total liquidity and a reduced debt load of $135 million, Luminar is better positioned to fund the transition to its new Halo platform without relying on near-term revenue inflection.
Halo Platform Offers a Streamlined Path Forward: The company’s pivot to a single, unified LiDAR system — Halo — is gaining momentum. OEMs are migrating away from Luminar’s legacy Iris system, opting instead for the Halo architecture, which promises quicker deployment, lower development costs, and greater commercial scalability. Prototypes are already in customer hands, with a formal launch expected in late 2026 or early 2027. This shift could position Luminar as a volume-ready LiDAR supplier capable of capturing significant market share in ADAS and safety systems.
Solid Industrial and Automotive Partnerships: Luminar’s agreements extend beyond passenger vehicles. Its LiDAR will be featured in Caterpillar’s off-highway trucks, targeting quarry and aggregate operations, offering validation in demanding environments. Automotive-wise, it’s already live on the Volvo EX90 and will soon be featured on the Volvo ES90, representing the only high-performance LiDAR system standard on global production vehicles.
Price Performance
Aeva Technologies has climbed nearly 240% year to date, largely fueled by new industrial and OEM partnership announcements. The rapid upswing reflects growing market optimism, though it raises questions about how much near-term success is already priced in. On the other hand, LAZR is down around 31% this year, weighed by commercialization delays and cash flow concerns. Still, if it can deliver on its Halo roadmap, the current valuation could present an attractive opportunity.
Valuation
Valuation is where the contrast becomes stark. AEVA currently trades at a forward sales multiple of approximately 31.6, signaling aggressive investor expectations for future growth. LAZR, on the other hand, trades at just 1.6X forward sales, offering a more grounded valuation despite its early production wins and robust capital runway. This gap suggests that AEVA’s stock price may already be baking in a lot of future success, while LAZR may present a value opportunity.
EPS Estimates
Both companies are still in the red but are showing signs of improvement. Analysts forecast AEVA’s EPS to improve by 21.7% in 2025 and another 12.2% in 2026, driven by early industrial revenues and potential automotive ramp-ups.
Luminar, however, is expected to post a stronger recovery with a 53.6% EPS improvement in 2025, followed by 7.5% in 2026. These forecasts imply that LAZR could deliver stronger bottom-line leverage as revenues scale from existing programs.
Conclusion
AEVA and LAZR are both navigating the early stages of LiDAR commercialization, each with unique strengths. AEVA stands out with fresh momentum, strategic wins across verticals, and rapid industrial expansion. However, its stretched valuation and continued cash burn temper near-term upside. LAZR, on the other hand, offers better valuation support and a clearer path toward high-volume deployment through its streamlined Halo platform and strong balance sheet.
Both stocks currently carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy), reflecting optimistic earnings outlooks and improving investor sentiment. In the end, the choice comes down to investor preference: AEVA for early-stage hypergrowth and vertical diversification, or LAZR for strategic discipline and deeper institutional backing. Either way, both are well worth investing in the LiDAR race.
You can see the complete list of today’s Zacks #1 Rank (Strong Buy) stocks here.