Yet with a colossal $1.19trn market cap today, Tesla’s days of eye-popping returns are probably in the rear-view mirror. As a result, investors hoping to find the next massive winner will likely need to look elsewhere.

Another AV play

One under-the-radar Nasdaq stock I think has enormous potential is Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR). Like Tesla, the firm’s a leader in the autonomous vehicle (AV) space.

Indeed, one of Aurora’s co-founders, Sterling Anderson, previously led the team that delivered Tesla Autopilot. Both tech companies believe that powerful AI software will revolutionise transportation.

However, while Tesla is focused on robotaxis, Aurora is having success with autonomous trucking. Its Aurora Driver self-driving system is designed to integrate directly into existing freight operations, allowing trucks to operate almost around the clock.

Being a carrier is a game of margins and if autonomy can work around the clock, it will be key to growing our customers’ businesses…The era of superhuman logistics has arrived.
Co-founder and CEO Chris Urmson

Scaling up quickly

There are a number of things I like here. One is that co-founder Chris Urmson helped build Google’s self-driving programme, so there’s definitely solid industry pedigree.

Another attractive factor is that the global truck freight market is absolutely massive, valued at about $4trn. And there should be no shortage of demand because, without mandatory rest breaks, Aurora Driver can cut transit times nearly in half.

The company is working with industry heavyweights like FedEx Freight, Schneider, Hirschbach, Toyota, and Volvo Trucks. Aurora only deployed its first driverless truck a year ago. But at the end of January, its software had facilitated 250,000 driverless miles, with a perfect safety record.

It ended 2025 with 10 trucks on the road, navigating rain, fog, and heavy wind. By the end of 2026, it expects to have more than 200 in operation, with routes extending across the Sun Belt in the south of the US.

There’s a nine-hour video on YouTube of its driverless trucks cruising down public highways. I salute you if you can stay awake till the end of the journey!

Risks abound

Now, I do have some concerns. First, there’s the elephant in the room — a terrible motorway accident involving a driverless juggernaut. That could set the company back years.

Also, the $9.8bn market cap is quite substantial, considering the loss-making company only expects revenue of $14m-$16m this year. So there’s a lot of optimism already baked into the valuation.

That said, the firm thinks it has enough liquidity to achieve positive free cash flow in 2028. Forecasts put revenue at almost $700m by then, highlighting how fast Aurora is expected to grow.

Another big winner?

Currently, it’s too early to tell what margins will look like and how much more money Aurora might need to raise. That makes it a high-risk stock, for sure.

However, Aurora Driver could solve driver shortages and underpin massive efficiency savings for freight firms. If it becomes the foundational operating system for the enormous US trucking industry, this could become a monster future winner.

With the stock down 50% in a little over a year, I might have a little nibble in May.

The post Is this little-known $5 stock the next Tesla? appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.

Nowadays, he helps run Lingotto Innovation, a growth-focused strategy that similarly attempts to find massive stock market winners. In May, Anderson and co-manager Morgan Samet spoke to Barron’s. In this interview, they highlighted three stocks they’re very excited about over the next decade.

EVs

Let’s start with the most familiar, BYD (OTC:BYDD.F). This is the Chinese hybrid and electric vehicle (EV) maker that’s now outselling Tesla. Last year, BYD’s revenue grew 29%, toping $100bn for the first time ($107bn). Its affordable EVs are selling like hotcakes worldwide, and I’ve been seeing more of its cars on UK roads.

Anderson highlights BYD’s “deep commitment to science” as a competitive advantage. The firm designs and manufactures its own batteries. Indeed, as the world’s second-largest player, it sells EV batteries to others, generating a sizeable revenue stream beyond cars.

The stock’s up nearly 400% in five years, giving the business a chunky market-cap of $135bn. However, the forward price-to-earnings ratio of 17.5 looks reasonable, especially compared to Tesla’s 175.

Naturally, the global EV market’s extremely competitive, which adds risk. And the US and EU are likely to keep tariffs high to protect their own car industries from cheap Chinese imports. I’m less interested here.

Driverless trucks

To my mind, the next stock has a lot more explosive potential. This is Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ: AUR), a leading autonomous trucking company.

Uber-backed Aurora is working with industry heavyweights like Continental, Toyota, and Volvo Trucks. So it’s not trying to replace traditional trucking companies, but integrate its autonomous software/hardware systems into vehicles.

Now, the challenges here are obvious. “Trucks go faster, they carry heavier materials, there is more regulation, and companies operate across state lines“, Samet points out in the article. One motorway accident could be devastating for all involved, including Aurora shareholders.

However, the ability to operate driverless would deliver massive savings for the industry. In May, Aurora launched autonomous truck runs between Dallas and Houston, a route that has now surpassed 20,000 miles.

Priced at $5.70, the stock’s down 41% since going public in 2021.

AI diagnostics

The third stock’s Tempus AI (NASDAQ: TEM). The company uses artificial intelligence (AI) and a vast library of clinical data to help physicians make personalised treatment decisions for patients, particularly those with cancer.

The company does genomic sequencing tests, while its Tempus One tool functions as a generative AI clinical assistant. Over 50% of US oncologists are now connected to Tempus.

For me, this is the most interesting because it’s only slightly larger than Aurora with a $12.5bn market-cap, but is far more advanced commercially. While Aurora isn’t forecast to generate $1bn+ in revenue until 2029, Tempus is on course for $1.3bn this year.

The main risk is that Tempus is still loss-making. But it’s nearing profitability while growing strongly (20%+ revenue growth forecast till at least 2028).

Undoubtedly, these two last picks are high-risk, high-reward. For adventurous investors though, I think Tempus may be worth exploring further.

The post 3 stocks that could be huge market winners, says this ex-FTSE 100 fund manager appeared first on The Twelfth Magpie.