One of the trending sectors in the SPAC market is that of lidar, the technology measures distances using light.
Last week, it was reported that Apple Inc (NASDAQ: AAPL) is talking with lidar companies for its long-rumored electric vehicle and self-driving efforts.
Bloomberg reported Apple would outsource some of its production to partners. Wedbush analyst Daniel Ives gave it an 85% chance that Apple will partner with an existing automotive company on the project, which could influence the lidar partner selected.
Here is a look at six lidar companies that have gone public via SPAC merger or are in the process of merging via SPAC.
Velodyne Lidar: Shares of Velodyne Lidar (NASDAQ: VLDR) fell recently as it was unveiled that Ford Motor Company (NYSE: F) took profits and sold its stake in the company.
Velodyne had over $970 million in customer agreements through the year 2024, as of September. A tweet from SPAC researcher Daniel Johnson shows the company trading at 14.3x its 2022 price divided by sales, the lowest multiple in the industry.
The company forecast fiscal 2021 revenue of $152 million and fiscal 2024 revenue of $684 million. Based on company estimates gathered by Johnson, Velodyne ranks first in the peer group for estimated revenue for each of the next three years.
Ouster: Lidar company Ouster is going public with Colonnade Acquisition Corp (NYSE: CLA). The company counted Ford Executive Chairman Bill Ford as an investor prior to the SPAC deal. The company trades at 25.6x its 2022 price divided by sales. The company is forecasting revenue of $34 million, $107 million and $323 million for the next three fiscal years. These totals trail only Velodyne. For fiscal 2024, Ouster’s projected revenue of $818 million is the highest in the peer group.
Related Link: 2 Electric Vehicle SPACs To Watch On Apple-Hyundai Rumors
Luminar Technologies: Lidar company Luminar Technologies (NASDAQ: LAZR) has the highest market capitalization of the six SPACs featured in this article. As of February 19, the market cap was $10.9 billion. That gives Lumina a price-to-sales multiple of 311.7 for fiscal 2022, highest in the peer group. The company estimates revenue of $26 million and $35 million over the next two fiscal years. The company is forecasting $418 million in revenue for fiscal 2024, ranking third in the group.
Aeva: Lidar company Aeva is going public with InterPrivate Acquisition Corp (NASDAQ: IPV). The company is trading at 118.7x 2022 price divided by sales. The company is forecasting revenue of $11 million, $35 million and $75 million for the next three years. In fiscal 2024, the company projects a big jump to $286 million in revenue.
Innoviz: Collective Growth Corporation (NASDAQ: CGRO) is taking Innoviz public. The company counts Magna International (NYSE: MGA) as an investor and partner. Innoviz was the first company to win an OEM production contract for L3 lidar. Partners include Samsung, Softbank, BMW and Aptiv (NYSE: APTV). The company trades at 84.4x 2020 price to sales. Revenue estimates are $9 million, $23 million and $79 million over the next three fiscal years.
AEye: CF Finance Acquisition III (NASDAQ: CFAC) is bringing AEye public in the latest announced lidar SPAC merger. AEye is backed by Intel Corp (NASDAQ: INTC) and Continental AG, Europe’s second largest car parts supplier. AEye ranks last in projected revenue for each of the next four years. The company trades at 204.7x 2022 price divided by sales, which makes it the second highest valued lidar SPAC based on the multiple.
Photo by Scott Blake on Unsplash.
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