Scott Levine, The Motley Fool

Wed, Jun 25, 2025, 4:45 AM5 min read

• Joby's aircraft are poised to revolutionize urban transportation in major markets.

• With a $781 million net cash reserve, Joby is well-funded to scale up production.

• Joby Aviation looks well on its way to FAA certification and commercial operations.

• 10 stocks we like better than Joby Aviation ›

At one time, the idea of providing passengers an air taxi service via electric-powered aircraft that take off and land vertically may have seemed the stuff of science fiction. But not today.

Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) has made tremendous strides toward making this vision a reality, and it's on the cusp of starting commercial operations. For several reasons, it's likely that investors who pilot Joby stock into their portfolios are positioning themselves to profit from the burgeoning of a new market.

These days when aircraft are above us, we certainly don't expect to see electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft such as the type that Joby is developing. This seems likely to change for residents of certain metropolitan areas in the near future. The company recently announced a partnership with Virgin Atlantic with respect to the launch of air taxi service in the United Kingdom. This complements Joby's agreement with Delta Air Lines to provide air taxi service in New York and Los Angeles.

Joby's plans to operate in the U.K., New York, and Los Angeles are the tip of the iceberg as the company will certainly work to expand operations in a variety of other markets both in the United States and abroad in the coming years.

Just how big is the market opportunity that lies before Joby? According to Grand View Research, the global eVTOL market was valued at $1.4 billion in 2023, and it's expected to rise at a 55% compound annual growth rate to $28.6 billion in 2030.

It's not unusual to see a company in the pre-revenue phase of its development issuing debt to raise capital in order to keep the lights on. Joby, however, doesn't find itself in this situation. Illustrating an extremely advantageous financial position, Joby reported a net cash position of $781 million at the end of the first quarter 2025.

The company's finances improved even more after the first quarter of 2025. In late May, the company announced that it had received the first $250 million investment -- of a total potential investment of $500 million -- from Toyota Motor. Joby plans on using the funds to support both its efforts to achieve the necessary Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification as well as its manufacturing of its eVTOL aircraft.