Kodiak AI stock plunges 37% after $100 million discounted share sale

Kodiak AI’s need to sell $100 million in shares at $6.50, well below its $9.10 closing price, gave investors a blunt message: the company could still attract capital, but not at the valuation the market had assigned it. The stock fell 37% in after-hours trading Thursday after the financing, which also included warrants exercisable at prices as low as $6, underscoring how expensive the next phase of growth remains for the self-driving truck startup.

The money came from existing backer Ares Management and several unnamed institutional investors, a sign of continued support for Kodiak AI’s business but also a reminder that the company is still leaning on outside capital to fund its expansion. Kodiak ended 2025 with about $121 million in cash and has already guided to negative free cash flow of about $160 million to $170 million for fiscal 2026, suggesting the fresh proceeds may buy time, not eliminate the need for more financing.

The company’s first-quarter numbers help explain the market’s reaction. Revenue rose to $1.8 million from $1.4 million a year earlier, but loss from operations widened to $37.8 million, about double the same period last year. That gap between modest revenue and heavy spending is the central risk facing Kodiak as it pushes to scale a business that spans both off-road industrial use and public highways.

Kodiak tried to show that the commercial pipeline is widening. It announced a new contract with Roehl Transport under which Kodiak-equipped trucks will haul freight between Dallas and Houston four round trips per week. Kodiak said the freight runs began in April 2026 and that the trucks operate autonomously for the full trip, with a human safety operator still behind the wheel as a precaution. The company also disclosed a pilot program at West Fraser Timber Co.’s log-hauling operations in Alberta, Canada, and a collaboration with General Dynamics Land Systems to develop autonomous ground vehicles for defense applications.

Operationally, Kodiak said it deployed eight additional fully driverless trucks in the first quarter, bringing the total to 28 customer-owned driverless vehicles. It said cumulative paid driverless hours topped 23,500 at the end of March, up 120% from the end of the fourth quarter of 2025, and that it had delivered more than 15,600 cumulative loads. Founder and chief executive Don Burnette said the company is on track to move to driverless trucking on public highways later this year, while Kodiak reiterated a long-haul driverless launch target for late 2026. The new contracts and pilots may broaden Kodiak’s credibility, but the discounted raise shows the company still has to prove that growth can outrun dilution.