Al Root

Lidar maker Ouster delivered better-than-expected second-quarter results and gave solid guidance for the current quarter. Shares soared in Friday trading.

Thursday evening, Ouster reported adjusted earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, of negative $6 million from sales of $35 million. Wall Street was looking for an Ebitda loss of $10.3 million and sales of $33.8 million.

For the coming quarter, Ouster expects sales of $35 million to $38 million. Wall Street currently projects $36.7 million.

"Strong execution," wrote Oppenheimer analyst Colin Rusch in a Friday report, adding Ouster's data processing efforts have made "customers increasingly dependent on Ouster's development tools and software ecosystem." He rates shares Buy and has a $35 price target for the stock.

Shares traded as high as $32.95, closing at $25.80, up about 12% on Friday. Ouster stock is up almost 111% this year and up about 144% over the past 12 months.

That performance is rare for a lidar maker. Lidar is essentially laser-based radar, giving cars and machines another way to see beyond optical cameras and conventional radar.

Luminar Technologies stock was down roughly 80% over the past 12 months, leaving it with a market value of about $150 million. Ouster has a market value of close to $1.4 billion. It feels like it is the last lidar startup standing, in the U.S. at least.

China's Hesai, however, is worth about $2.8 billion. Hesai's sales in 2025 should amount to about $455 million, according to FactSet. The 2025 sales estimates for Ouster and Luminar are $144 million and $86 million, respectively.

One way Ouster has separated itself is through diversification of end markets. Ouster serves transportation, industrial, infrastructure, and retail end markets, among others.

The company just announced a deal with a large retailer to use lidar to offer insights into shopping habits. Using lidar in this instance doesn't create privacy concerns: Retailers can know exactly how people are shopping without capturing typical camera-based images.

Ouster's retail products, and others it makes, are merged with AI-computing to offer improved productivity in myriad ways. The merging of AI computing with machines means that everything needs a set of eyes, says Ouster CEO Angus Pacala.

Ouster wants to be that set of eyes.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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August 08, 2025 16:34 ET (20:34 GMT)

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