Joby Aviation Inc (NYSE:JOBY) stock is trading lower on Friday, driven down by a broker downgrade alongside market reactions to a major legal setback involving a $116.9 million jury verdict. The Nasdaq is up 0.27%, while the S&P 500 is up 0.41%.
Barclays analyst Anthony Valentini downgraded Joby Aviation from Equal-Weight to Underweight. The analyst also lowered the stock price forecast from $6 to $4.
Legal Verdict
A federal jury in Tampa, Florida, awarded airplane component maker Aerosonic nearly $116.9 million after finding Joby Aero Inc. broke a confidentiality agreement and misused trade secrets, Reuters reported on Oct. 5. The jury determined Joby owes more than $68 million for breaching a non-disclosure agreement and over $48 million for willfully misappropriating trade secrets regarding air data probes.
A Joby spokesperson stated Monday that the firm strongly disagrees with the verdict and intends to “vigorously pursue all available post-trial and appellate remedies.” The jury also rejected Joby’s countersuit alleging Aerosonic sold defective probes.
Technical Analysis
JOBY is in a firmly bearish trend across timeframes, trading 13.2% below its 20-day SMA, 23.6% below its 50-day SMA, 34.2% below its 100-day SMA, and 44% below its 200-day SMA. The 50-day SMA remains below the 200-day SMA after the February death cross, which typically keeps rallies “sellable” until price can reclaim longer-term averages.
Momentum is extremely stretched: RSI is 23.06, signaling that selling is overextended and raising the odds of a short-term bounce or consolidation. That said, oversold readings can persist in strong downtrends, so traders often look for stabilization (higher lows or a reclaim of the 20-day/50-day area) before treating it as a durable turn.
- Key Resistance: $6.05 — aligns with the 20-day SMA, a common first “trend check” level after a selloff
- Key Support: $5.58 — near the 52-week low zone, where buyers previously failed to hold the line
JOBY Stock Price Activity: Joby Aviation shares were down 7.91% at $5.29 at the time of publication on Friday, according to Benzinga Pro data.
Joby Aviation-Photo by T. Schneider via Shutterstock
