On February 26, 2025, advanced air mobility developer Joby Aviation posted its fourth quarter and full year financial results for 2024.
The California-based startup, which is still working on the development and certification of its future eVTOL aircraft, posted a $608 million net loss for the full year, with $246.3 million of this corresponding to Q4.
These larger losses reflect both an increase in operational costs related to the certification process and the company’s industrial roll-out, as well as a number of non-cash expenses, such as a $106.9 million revaluation of warrants and earnout shares. As of early 2025, Joby still generates minimal revenue, mostly from financial activities.
Quite remarkably at a time where parts of the eVTOL industry face financial distress, Joby’s results show a relatively strong cash position. The company ended 2024 with $932.9 million in cash, cash equivalents and liquid securities, remaining little changed from the $1.03 billion it had in the bank at the turn of 2023.
The fact that Joby has been able to keep a solid balance sheet despite continuing to burn cash is due, in great part, to more than $350 million in fresh funds raised in 2024 through public share offerings. This figure does not include, apparently, the second tranche of the $500 million investment committed by Toyota Ventures, a deal which was announced in October 2024.
Joby estimates that its cash burn during 2025 will be in the $500 to $540 million range. This burn rate, coupled with the recent funding commitments would, in principle, provide a solid financial cushion for Joby to advance past a number of important milestones in 2025.
These include the final stage of its certification process with the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA), the start of serial production of eVTOL parts and components at the firm’s new factory in Dayton, Ohio, and the expansion of its test program with the US Department of Defense, which has just received a second airframe from Joby.
Well aware of the make or break moment that the eVTOL industry faces in the months ahead, JoeBen Bevirt, Joby’s founder and CEO, remarked in the Shareholder’s Letter that, “The next 12 months mark a critical inflection point, not just for Joby, but for our entire industry, as we look ahead to carrying our first passengers, and I’m proud that Joby continues to lead the way towards this new era of flight.”
Joby expects its first passenger flights to take place either in late 2025 or early 2026.
