Pony AI (NASDAQ:PONY) Cut to “Strong Sell” at Zacks Research

Zacks Research downgraded shares of Pony AI (NASDAQ:PONY) from a hold rating to a strong sell rating in a research note released on Thursday,Zacks.com reports.

Several other equities analysts have also commented on the company. BNP Paribas Exane initiated coverage on Pony AI in a research note on Thursday. They issued a “neutral” rating and a $12.50 target price for the company. Macquarie Infrastructure assumed coverage on Pony AI in a report on Monday, December 15th. They issued an “outperform” rating and a $29.00 price target for the company. Weiss Ratings reaffirmed a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of Pony AI in a research note on Thursday, January 22nd. Wall Street Zen upgraded shares of Pony AI from a “sell” rating to a “hold” rating in a report on Sunday, March 22nd. Finally, Citigroup reissued a “buy” rating on shares of Pony AI in a research report on Thursday, January 15th. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, five have assigned a Buy rating, two have given a Hold rating and two have assigned a Sell rating to the stock. According to MarketBeat, Pony AI has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average price target of $20.50.

Pony AI Stock Down 6.0%

PONY stock opened at $9.14 on Thursday. Pony AI has a 52-week low of $4.11 and a 52-week high of $24.92. The stock’s fifty day simple moving average is $13.40 and its 200-day simple moving average is $15.71. The stock has a market capitalization of $3.52 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -25.39 and a beta of 6.26.

Institutional Inflows and Outflows

Hedge funds and other institutional investors have recently added to or reduced their stakes in the company. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. raised its holdings in shares of Pony AI by 268.5% in the 3rd quarter. Mirae Asset Global Investments Co. Ltd. now owns 836,728 shares of the company’s stock worth $18,818,000 after purchasing an additional 609,666 shares during the period. ARK Investment Management LLC acquired a new position in shares of Pony AI in the 3rd quarter valued at about $28,623,000. Money Concepts Capital Corp purchased a new stake in shares of Pony AI during the 3rd quarter worth about $2,062,000. Carrhae Capital LLP acquired a new stake in Pony AI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $6,686,000. Finally, Y Intercept Hong Kong Ltd acquired a new stake in Pony AI during the 3rd quarter worth approximately $9,509,000.

Trending Headlines about 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.)

About Pony AI

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.