Kodiak AI reported second-quarter fiscal year 2026 revenue of $3.5 million, representing a 91% quarter-over-quarter increase. The growth was primarily driven by the expansion of its Driver-as-a-Service (DaaS) business and a one-time contribution from an autonomous trucking demonstration program.

The company expanded its driverless truck fleet to 35 units, up from 28 in the prior quarter. These trucks achieved over 40,000 paid driverless hours and delivered more than 300,000 tons of freight. GAAP operating loss stood at $43.7 million, while non-GAAP operating loss, excluding stock-based compensation, was $37.3 million.

Financial Performance

Kodiak AI maintained disciplined capital allocation while scaling operations. The company ended the quarter with cash, cash equivalents, and marketable securities of $151 million. Free cash flow for the quarter was negative $38 million, outperforming the low end of its guidance range. Capital expenditures totaled approximately $3.9 million, focused on autonomous vehicle hardware commitments and long-haul development.

*Note: Prior quarter revenue derived from 91% QoQ growth statement.

Operational Highlights

The company deployed its Gen 7 hardware platform, which offers improved efficiency, reliability, and compute power. This platform is expected to result in low double-digit reductions in autonomous vehicle hardware costs. Strategic initiatives include:

• Fleet Expansion: Transitioning Atlas driverless builds to a new OEM truck platform (Daimler Western Star), with deployments expected to accelerate in Q4FY26.
• International Pilot: Initiating a pilot with West Fraser in Canada to demonstrate AI capabilities in logging operations.
• Regulatory Progress: California’s DMV extended autonomous vehicle permits to heavy-duty trucks, supporting future coast-to-coast operations.

What the Numbers Show

Revenue growth of 91% QoQ is significantly outpaced by the 25% increase in driverless truck count (from 28 to 35). This divergence suggests that revenue per truck is rising, likely due to increased utilization rates and operational efficiency gains rather than just fleet size expansion. Additionally, the inclusion of over $1 million from a one-time demonstration program indicates that recurring DaaS revenue, while growing, still relies on non-recurring items to achieve such high sequential percentage growth in this early stage.

Guidance Outlook

For the third quarter of fiscal year 2026, Kodiak AI expects driverless truck deployments to reach the high 30s. The company narrowed its full-year free cash flow guidance to negative $155 million to negative $162 million, compared to the previous range of negative $155 million to negative $165 million. The CEO stated confidence in closing the safety case for long-haul operations by year-end, targeting a launch with a 91% autonomy readiness measure.

Kodiak AI (NASDAQ: KDK) plans to launch unsupervised long-haul driverless service on the Dallas-Houston freight lane by the end of 2026. The company is currently conducting daily preparation runs along Interstate 45 and consistently completing deliveries without human intervention.

This development builds on Kodiak’s existing collaboration with PrePass to integrate autonomous truck inspections into state roadside screening systems in Texas and Louisiana. The partnership connects inspection data from Kodiak’s vehicles directly with enforcement personnel, allowing inspectors to verify information and authorize bypasses without separate roadside processes.

Driverless launch progress

Kodiak began its driverless long-haul launch program in August on its driverless-ready software and hardware platform. The company now consistently completes deliveries between its Lancaster, Texas, hub and its launch destination in Houston without human intervention. During these end-to-end deliveries, the safety observer never touched the wheel, including on surface streets.

As of the end of August, Kodiak’s Autonomy Readiness Measure (ARM) for the long-haul domain stood at 93%. The ARM measures the percentage of claims and evidence in Kodiak’s safety case that are materially complete. The company expects to reach 100% and launch driverless operations by year end.

Operational integration and safety case

The Commercial Vehicle Safety Alliance (CVSA) developed the Enhanced Commercial Motor Vehicle Inspection Program to support automated driving systems. A CVSA-trained inspector verifies that a vehicle is free of safety defects before driverless operations begin, with a successful inspection remaining valid for up to 24 hours.

Kodiak is concurrently conducting driverless tests at closed-course test tracks to stress-test the system under rare or risky real-world conditions. These drives are part of the final validation process before commencing driver-out operations.

Strategic context and infrastructure

Chas Wurster, Chief Technology Officer of PrePass, stated that the next barrier to scaling is infrastructure rather than the truck itself. PrePass operates across more than 580 inspection and screening locations nationwide and has invested over $1.3 billion to deploy services improving safety and reducing emissions.

Don Burnette, founder and CEO of Kodiak AI, described the collaboration as a milestone for launching long-haul driverless operations. He noted that Kodiak has almost two years of experience in driverless operations with no human in the cab for a paying customer in the Permian Basin.

What the numbers show

The convergence of Kodiak’s operational metrics highlights a transition from industrial pilots to public highway commercialization. While the company has logged over 3.5 million autonomous miles on the Dallas-Houston route since 2019 with safety drivers, the current status shows a shift to unsupervised readiness. The 93% Autonomy Readiness Measure indicates that the safety case validation is nearly complete, aligning with the company's target to begin unsupervised service by year end. This follows the deployment of driverless technology in customer-owned trucks with Atlas Energy Solutions, where the Kodiak Driver had been integrated into 35 trucks and surpassed 40,000 cumulative hours of paid driverless operations as of June 30, 2026.