Which LiDAR Stocks Are Worth Your Attention in 2026: AEVA and LAZR Compared

The lidar stocks landscape has become increasingly competitive, with Aeva Technologies (AEVA) and Luminar Technologies (LAZR) emerging as the most watched contenders in the autonomous sensing space. Both companies are pushing different strategies to capture market share in an industry that’s transitioning from laboratory prototypes to real-world deployment. With vastly different valuations, technological approaches, and commercialization timelines, investors face a critical choice between two fundamentally different bets on the future of autonomous transportation.

The Fundamentals of LiDAR Technology and Market Potential

Before diving into the specific investment cases, it’s worth understanding why lidar stocks have attracted so much attention lately. LiDAR—Light Detection and Ranging—represents a cornerstone technology for autonomous vehicles, industrial automation, and advanced driver assistance systems (ADAS). The technology works by emitting pulsed laser light and continuously scanning the environment, creating a precise three-dimensional map of surroundings in real-time. This capability is proving essential for safe autonomous operation, especially as the industry moves beyond simple obstacle detection toward high-speed, complex environment navigation.

The distinction between competing lidar stocks ultimately comes down to technology selection and execution speed. Aeva Technologies chose to build its 4D LiDAR on Frequency Modulated Continuous Wave (FMCW) technology, which simultaneously captures real-time velocity and depth information. This stands in contrast to traditional Time-of-Flight (ToF) systems employed by many competitors. The architectural choice affects everything from manufacturing complexity to market addressability—a nuance that separates these two leading lidar stocks for investors to understand.

AEVA: Riding Momentum Through Industrial Diversification

Aeva Technologies has demonstrated significant acceleration throughout 2025 and into 2026, with momentum extending well beyond automotive applications. The company’s FMCW-based architecture has proven particularly attractive for industrial precision work, where the ability to measure velocity simultaneously with distance creates unique advantages over conventional approaches.

Recent partnership activity supports this momentum narrative. A Fortune 500 technology company committed up to $50 million to support AEVA’s growth—specifically $32.5 million in equity and $17.5 million in dedicated manufacturing support. Critically, this partner will serve as Aeva’s Tier 2 supplier for a leading global passenger vehicle OEM, with potential to scale across multiple models. Management disclosed a signed letter of intent from that same OEM signaling a possible production award as early as late 2025, setting the stage for meaningful revenue acceleration.

What distinguishes AEVA’s growth narrative is its expansion into high-margin industrial channels. The company has secured over 1,000 orders for its Eve 1 precision sensor and is collaborating with established players like SICK AG and LMI Technologies—companies whose combined addressable market represents roughly 2 million units annually. By year-end 2025, AEVA was targeting 100,000 units in annual production capacity, demonstrating serious commitment to scaling beyond automotive.

However, this rapid expansion comes with tradeoffs. AEVA currently trades at a forward sales multiple of approximately 31.6X, signaling that markets have already priced in substantial near-term success. The elevated valuation suggests that execution must move flawlessly to justify current investor expectations—a risk that tempers the upside from current levels.

LAZR: Building Optionality Through Strategic Repositioning

Luminar Technologies has taken a distinctly different path, prioritizing balance sheet strength and measured product development. The company executed a series of deliberate capital management moves, including repurchasing $50 million of its 2026 convertible notes using a combination of cash and equity. Simultaneously, Luminar secured a $200 million capital facility from institutional investors, substantially extending its runway. With approximately $400 million in total liquidity and a reduced debt load of $135 million, the company has created significant financial flexibility.

This financial discipline enables Luminar to pursue its strategic pivot toward a single, unified LiDAR architecture: Halo. Unlike its legacy Iris system, Halo promises quicker deployment cycles, lower development costs for customer OEMs, and greater commercial scalability. Prototypes are already circulating among key customers, with a formal market launch expected in late 2026 or early 2027. The simplified architecture appeals to manufacturers seeking to reduce complexity and accelerate time-to-market.

Luminar’s existing deployment demonstrates real-world validation of its approach. The company’s LiDAR is currently live on the Volvo EX90 and will soon appear on the Volvo ES90—the only high-performance LiDAR system available as standard across global production vehicles. Beyond passenger cars, Luminar’s technology is featured in Caterpillar’s off-highway trucks serving the quarry and aggregate industries, proving the technology’s durability in demanding environments. These wins establish meaningful production credentials while the Halo platform reaches maturity.

From a valuation perspective, LAZR presents an entirely different picture. The stock trades at just 1.6X forward sales—a fraction of AEVA’s multiple. This valuation gap suggests markets have underestimated Luminar’s path to profitability through the Halo transition, potentially creating an asymmetric opportunity if execution delivers.

Financial Outlook: Divergent Paths Toward Profitability

Comparing the earnings recovery expectations between these two lidar stocks reveals another important distinction. Analysts forecast AEVA’s EPS to improve by 21.7% during 2025 and another 12.2% in 2026, driven primarily by early industrial revenues and potential automotive production ramps. While positive, this pace of bottom-line improvement appears more gradual given the elevated revenue expectations already reflected in the stock price.

Luminar faces more dramatic EPS recovery expectations: a projected 53.6% improvement in 2025 and 7.5% in 2026. These figures suggest substantially greater operating leverage as the company scales from its existing programs and transitions to high-margin Halo production. The wider swings in Luminar’s profit recovery imply that successful execution could generate disproportionate shareholder returns relative to revenue growth.

Both companies remain unprofitable but are demonstrating improving trajectories—a characteristic typical of scaling technology businesses. The question for investors centers on which path represents better risk-adjusted returns: AEVA’s faster volume scaling with premium valuation, or LAZR’s more conservative approach with significant valuation upside if execution succeeds.

Performance Patterns and Market Sentiment

Price action has diverged sharply between these two lidar stocks over the recent period. AEVA has appreciated substantially, climbing nearly 240% year-to-date through various announcements of OEM partnerships and industrial expansion. This rapid ascent reflects genuine investor optimism about the company’s execution and market opportunity. However, the magnitude of the move raises legitimate questions about whether near-term expectations have become stretched beyond near-term realities.

Conversely, LAZR has struggled, declining approximately 31% over the same period amid broader concerns about commercialization timing and near-term cash consumption. Yet this underperformance may reflect market pessimism at precisely the moment when the company’s balance sheet strength and product roadmap are improving. The disconnect between financial position and valuation suggests potential opportunity for contrarian investors.

Making a Choice Between These LiDAR Stocks

Both Aeva Technologies and Luminar Technologies warrant serious consideration from growth-oriented investors, though they appeal to different investment profiles. AEVA represents the hypergrowth thesis—rapid revenue scaling, vertical diversification, and proof of OEM adoption—but carries the burden of justifying a premium valuation in an industry still proving its commercial viability. LAZR embodies the value-plus-growth combination: attractive valuation, improving balance sheet dynamics, and a clearer technological pathway through Halo architecture.

Currently, both lidar stocks carry a Zacks Rank #2 (Buy) rating, reflecting analyst confidence in improving earnings outlooks and strengthening investor sentiment around the sector. The choice between these two ultimately depends on your risk tolerance and time horizon. Choose AEVA if you believe rapid scaling will overcome valuation headwinds and if you can tolerate higher volatility. Select LAZR if you prefer better entry valuations and appreciate the financial cushion that allows Luminar to execute without pressure.

The lidar stocks story is far from finished, and both companies have credible paths to significant value creation over the next 24-36 months.