Oppenheimer launched coverage on Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR) with an Outperform rating.

Analyst Colin Rusch and his team view Aurora (NASDAQ:AUR) as the leading vertically integrated play on autonomous trucking in North America. "Leveraging proprietary 4D-Lidar and simulation technology in a compound AI strategy coupled with a strong ecosystem of partners, we believe Aurora is pioneering the industry at a judicious, sustainable rate with limited competition as it nears driver-out validation," he wrote.

Aurora Innovation (AUR) is seen having addressable opportunities will be in the range of $50 billion to $55 billion by 2028 amid inflationary pressure with truck driver expenses. As the Pittsburgh-based company's technology and U.S. regulations mature, Oppenheimer sees a significant expansion of the opportunity.

Notably, Aurora Innovation (AUR) has developed partnerships to support the commercialization of its technology. In its supply base, those partners include OEMs representing the majority of the U.S. Class 8 truck market and experienced hardware manufacturers.

Oppenheimer assigned a price target of $15 to represent more than 100% upside potential.

Aurora Innovation (AUR) operates in the autonomous vehicle and technology sector, meaning its competitors on a broad basis include companies specializing in self-driving technology, AI-driven mobility solutions, and advanced software for transportation systems, such as Waymo (GOOG), Amazon's (AMZN), Nuro, Embark Trucks, Motional (APTV) (OTCPK:HYMTF), and Tesla (TSLA).

Shares of Aurora Innovation (AUR) were up 4.00% in afternoon trading to $7.41.