Luminar Wins Nvidia Business in Self-Driving Deal. It’s a Big Moment for the Lidar Maker.
Updated Nov. 9, 2021 8:22 am ET / Original Nov. 9, 2021 4:30 am ET
Lidar maker Luminar Technologies said its technology will be used for Nvidia's autonomous driving platform.
DREAMSTIME
Lidar maker Luminar Technologies and tech giant Nvidia are pairing up to put self-driving hardware into cars. It’s a huge deal for Luminar and shows investors the development of autonomous driving technology is going to accelerate.
Luminar (ticker: LAZR) announced early Tuesday that Nvidia (NVDA) has selected the lidar startup’s technology for Nvidia’s autonomous driving platform.
Investors are pleased. At one point, Luminar stock was up more than 50% to almost $27 a share in premarket trading. Nvidia stock gained almost 5%. The two moves create almost $40 billion in market value. S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were flat.
Lidar is essentially laser-based radar and is a key enabling technology most auto makers believe are needed for self-driving cars. Lidar gives cars a way to see far down the road. All the lidar data coming in from sensors, of course, has to be understood and processed by a car’s computer.
That’s where Nvidia comes in. Nvidia’s products provide the computing power required for self-driving cars. And with Luminar’s technology, Nvidia will have a complete package for auto makers including computing hardware and sensors as well as software developed by both companies.
“Our collaboration with Luminar bolsters the [Nvidia] ecosystem of companies that are focused on building best-in-class technologies for enabling autonomous driving functionalities,” said Gary Hicok, Nvidia’s senior vice president of engineering, in Luminar’s news release. “Luminar is pioneering a unique, scalable solution that complements the [Nvidia’s] platform.”
That’s quite a compliment for a technology start-up, and being able to meet Nvidia’s requirements is a feather in the cap for Luminar. Nvidia is a heavy-hitter. The company has a market capitalization of more than $770 billion as of Monday’s closing price of $308.10.
What’s more, Nvidia sales to automotive customers over the past 12 months have come in at about $576 million. That’s down about 16% year over year, but the global semiconductor shortage has constrained auto production around the globe. Before the pandemic, Nvidia’s auto business was up to more than $700 million a year, growing at about 20%.
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