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Waymo is not publicly traded at this time. However, there are still ways for investors to potentially gain exposure to the company and sector.
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The world’s first autonomous vehicle (AV) was introduced in 1939, but the stock sector has only gotten red-hot in recent years. Right now, there’s no hotter AV company than Waymo.
Founded in 2009 as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, the company was rebranded as Waymo in 2016. It’s one of the best-known and best-connected AV companies out there.
It checks a lot of boxes: Cool sector. Cool technology. Connection to Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL) … About now, you’re probably wondering how to buy Waymo stock.
The company isn’t publicly listed, it’s not as simple as looking up the Waymo stock symbol and trading. But that doesn’t mean you can’t get exposure to the company and AV sector.
Waymo: The Basics
We’ll get to how to buy Waymo stock in a minute. But first, here are a few things you should know about Waymo and the AV sector:
- Waymo was founded in 2009 as the Google Self-Driving Car Project and rebranded as Waymo in 2016.
- The company is a subsidiary of Alphabet, Inc., which is commonly known as Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL).
- As of 2020, Waymo was valued at $30 billion.
- The AV sector has plenty of room for growth. In 2021, the estimated global market size for the sector was $87.75 billion; some projections state that it could grow to $614.9 billion by 2030.
- According to estimates, the AV industry is growing 16% annually.
- According to Global Nissan News, as many as 55% of small business owners believe that in 20 years, they’ll operate fully-autonomous vehicle fleets.
Now, let’s talk about how to buy Waymo stock.
Can You Buy Waymo Stock? Is Waymo Publicly Traded?
Waymo is not currently a publicly traded company, so you won’t find a Waymo stock symbol or Waymo stock price listed on any of the major exchanges.
But that doesn’t mean you can’t get exposure to both the company and the sector.
In the next few sections, you’ll learn:
- How to get exposure to Waymo as a retail investor
- Other ways to get exposure to the AV sector
How to Buy Waymo as a Retail Investor
Since Waymo isn’t public, you can’t directly buy shares of the stock. You won’t be able to buy Waymo stock directly until they IPO, and there are currently no filings underway.
However, there are still ways to gain exposure to Waymo. Keep reading…
Who Owns Waymo?
Waymo is owned by Alphabet, Inc., the parent company of Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL).
Waymo has been intertwined with Google since its inception. It was founded in 2009 as the Google Self-Driving Car Project, and evolved into Waymo in 2016.
Currently, Waymo is run by two CEOs: Tekedra Mawakana and Dmitri Dolgov.
Does Google Own Waymo?
Yep. Google owns Waymo. But Waymo also has a number of investors, including:
- AutoNation (NYSE: AN)
- Fidelity Management and Research (NYSE: FNF)
- Silver Lake
- T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW)
- Tiger Global Management
How to Invest in Waymo Stock as a Retail Investor
Here’s the bummer news: if you’re a retail investor, you can’t buy Waymo stock until the company goes public.
Here’s the good news: there are still ways to get exposure to the company. Check it out…
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Waymo’s parent company, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), offers the most direct exposure to the company.
Yes, you’ll be investing in the rest of the company beyond Waymo. But considering the stock has gone from around $8 a share at the time Waymo was conceived to averaging over $100 in March 2023, that might not be such a bad thing.
Waymo’s Investors
Several of the prominent Waymo investors listed above are publicly-traded companies, including:
- AutoNation (NYSE: AN)
- Fidelity Management and Research Company (NYSE: FNF)
- T. Rowe Price (NASDAQ: TROW)
Waymo’s Partners
Waymo has either worked with or forged partnerships with a number of major automotive companies and other companies, including:
- Mercedes-Benz (OTCMKTS: MBGYY)
- Nissan-RenaultNissan (OTCMKTS: NSANY)
- Volvo (OTCMKTS: VLVLY)
Waymo’s Retail Partners
Waymo has also partnered up with several non-car companies that are publicly traded. Any events that benefit Waymo could potentially benefit these partners. For example:
- Waymo forged a partnership with retail giant Walmart (NYSE: WMT) to chauffeur customers in self-driving cars.
- Waymo has also partnered with Uber Freight, the logistics portion of Uber (NYSE: UBER).
Other AV Companies
Finally, while Waymo stock is not available on the open market, plenty of other companies involved with self-driving car technology are, including:
- Argo Group (NYSE: ARGO)
- Aurora Innovation Inc (NASDAQ: AUR)
- Tesla (NASDAQ: TSLA)
As you can see, the latter stock is quite volatile, but it’s also experienced a lot of overall growth during the AV sector’s hot streak:
How to Buy the Waymo IPO
Waymo is not a public company right now. But hey, it never hurts to be prepared!
Here are the steps on how to buy Waymo stock if and when it becomes available:
- Create or login to your brokerage account (if you don’t have one, we recommend eToro)
- Search for Waymo
- Select how many shares you want to buy
- Place your order
- Monitor your trade
Waymo Stock Price Chart
Since there’s not a Waymo stock at this point, there’s no Waymo stock price chart to refer to.
However, there are other indicators about how the company’s doing.
For instance, here’s a chart detailing what Waymo’s parent company’s stock, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), has been up to since Waymo (then the Google Self-Driving Car Project) was founded:
In January of 2009, Google was trading for about $8 a share. As of March 2023, the stock trades for around $100.
This image gives you a look at the company’s growth before and after their latest financing round in 2021, which raised about $2.5 billion:
Waymo may not be a publicly-traded company, but there are still compelling reasons to seek it out as an investor — namely, it’s in a hot sector with growth potential and owned by one of the biggest companies in the world.
If you’re a retail trader, consider one of the many different approaches listed in this article.
FAQs:
How to buy Waymo stock?
Since Waymo is not listed on the stock exchange, you cannot buy Waymo shares directly. However, you can buy shares of its parent company, Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL).
How much is Waymo stock?
Waymo is not a public company, so there isn’t a stock price. However, its parent company, Alphabet, AKA Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL), is trading for about $100 a share in March 2023.
What is Waymo stock symbol?
Since Waymo is not listed on the stock exchange, there is no Waymo stock symbol. Its parent company, Alphabet, more commonly known as Google, does have a stock symbol: GOOGL.
Who owns Waymo stock?
Waymo is a subsidiary of Alphabet, more commonly known as Google (NASDAQ: GOOGL). Other prominent investors include AutoNation, Fidelity Management and Research Company, Silver Lake, T. Rowe Price, and Tiger Global Management.
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