Pony AI (NASDAQ:PONY) Downgraded to “Strong Sell” Rating by Zacks Research

Zacks Research cut shares of Pony AI (NASDAQ:PONY) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research report report published on Thursday morning,Zacks.com reports.

Other research analysts have also issued research reports about the stock. Weiss Ratings restated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Pony AI in a report on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen raised shares of Pony AI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a research note on Sunday, March 22nd. CLSA started coverage on shares of Pony AI in a report on Friday, January 2nd. They set an “outperform” rating and a $22.00 target price on the stock. Macquarie Infrastructure started coverage on shares of Pony AI in a research report on Monday, December 15th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Finally, Citigroup reiterated a “buy” rating on shares of Pony AI in a report on Thursday, January 15th. One research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have issued a Buy rating, two have issued a Hold rating and two have given a Sell rating to the stock. According to data from MarketBeat, Pony AI currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.50.

Pony AI Trading Down 6.0%

PONY stock opened at $9.14 on Thursday. The stock has a 50-day moving average price of $13.40 and a two-hundred day moving average price of $15.71. The company has a market cap of $3.52 billion, a PE ratio of -25.39 and a beta of 6.26. Pony AI has a 12-month low of $4.11 and a 12-month high of $24.92.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in the company. HSG Holding Ltd purchased a new position in Pony AI in the 2nd quarter valued at about $78,184,000. MIRAE ASSET GLOBAL ETFS HOLDINGS Ltd. acquired a new position in shares of Pony AI in the third quarter worth about $89,174,000. Aspex Management HK Ltd boosted its holdings in Pony AI by 728.1% in the third quarter. Aspex Management HK Ltd now owns 4,140,447 shares of the company’s stock valued at $93,119,000 after purchasing an additional 3,640,447 shares during the last quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC grew its stake in Pony AI by 683.8% during the 4th quarter. Tiger Global Management LLC now owns 2,900,000 shares of the company’s stock valued at $42,050,000 after purchasing an additional 2,530,000 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Ghisallo Capital Management LLC purchased a new stake in Pony AI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $53,076,000.

Key Stories Impacting Pony AI

Here are the key news stories impacting Pony AI this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Partnership and Europe launch — Pony.ai partnered with Uber and Verne to launch Europe’s first commercial robotaxi service in Zagreb, signaling tangible international commercialization and a new addressable market. Reuters: China’s Pony.ai to more than double robotaxi fleet, debuts in Zagreb
• Positive Sentiment: Operations & revenue growth — The company highlighted steep YoY growth in robotaxi and fare-charging revenues and reiterated a target to scale to ~3,000 robotaxis across 20+ cities this year, supporting longer-term revenue trajectory. GlobeNewswire: PONY AI Inc. Scales with 160% Robotaxi Revenues Growth YoY
• Positive Sentiment: Bullish options flow — Unusually large call buying was reported (27,007 calls), suggesting speculative or hedged bullish positioning by traders shortly after results. (No direct article link available.)
• Neutral Sentiment: New analyst coverage — BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage with a “neutral” rating and a $12.50 price target, implying upside from current levels but a balanced view on near-term fundamentals. Finviz: Coverage note (BNP Paribas Exane)
• Neutral Sentiment: Earnings call transcripts available — Full Q4/2025 call transcripts were posted (useful for management color on unit economics, expansion cadence and margin targets). InsiderMonkey: Pony AI Q4 2025 Earnings Call Transcript
• Negative Sentiment: Mixed/poor earnings reaction and quality concerns — Market commentary flagged an EPS miss and very weak margin metrics; Proactive noted shares tumbled after the report. Management reported a GAAP net profit largely driven by a $132.5M paper gain on trading securities, which raises questions about recurring profitability and earnings quality. Those factors drove the earlier steep sell-off and are weighing on the stock today. Proactive: Pony.ai shares slide as revenue falls despite robotaxi surge MarketBeat: Pony AI earnings summary and metrics
• Negative Sentiment: High volatility & mixed data — Very high volume, a large beta, and conflicting EPS figures (some sources report a small positive EPS, others a miss) increase short-term uncertainty and likely amplify downward price pressure as investors sort through which numbers to trust. (Background market data and transcripts cited above.)

Pony AI Company Profile

Pony.ai develops autonomous driving technologies for passenger and goods transportation. The company offers an end-to-end self-driving stack that combines perception, planning and control systems with proprietary hardware and software. Pony.ai’s solutions support robotaxi services and advanced driver-assistance system (ADAS) deployments across urban and suburban environments.

Founded in late 2016 by James Peng and Sean Gong, Pony.ai operates research and development centers in Fremont, California, as well as in Guangzhou and Beijing, China.