WeRide Sees Unusually Large Options Volume (NASDAQ:WRD)

WeRide Inc. (NASDAQ:WRD) was the target of unusually large options trading activity on Tuesday. Stock traders purchased 8,592 call options on the stock. This is an increase of 167% compared to the typical daily volume of 3,216 call options.

WeRide Trading Down 0.4%

Shares of NASDAQ WRD opened at $7.53 on Thursday. The company has a 50 day simple moving average of $7.46 and a two-hundred day simple moving average of $8.79. The stock has a market cap of $2.44 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -10.04 and a beta of 4.36. WeRide has a 12 month low of $6.01 and a 12 month high of $16.25.

WeRide (NASDAQ:WRD) last issued its earnings results on Monday, March 23rd. The company reported ($0.24) earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter. The business had revenue of $44.88 million for the quarter. WeRide had a negative return on equity of 24.38% and a negative net margin of 240.54%. Analysts forecast that WeRide will post -0.68 EPS for the current year.

Key Stories Impacting WeRide

Here are the key news stories impacting WeRide this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Zacks Research upgraded WeRide from “hold” to “strong-buy,” which can attract momentum investors and support buying interest. Zacks TickerReport
• Positive Sentiment: Unusually large options activity: investors bought ~8,592 call options on 3/24 (≈167% above average daily call volume), signalling short‑term bullish positioning that can amplify upside on positive news or low supply days.
• Positive Sentiment: WeRide reported a Next Day Disclosure showing a share buyback filing on the Hong Kong exchange (filed 3/24). A buyback program can be supportive to the share price if executed. TipRanks article
• Positive Sentiment: Fundamental update: coverage notes that 2025 revenues nearly doubled and losses narrowed, which helped a recent run-up in the stock as investors respond to improving top‑line trends. InsiderMonkey article
• Neutral Sentiment: Multiple short‑interest notices report a “large increase” in March but list 0 shares and NaN changes, with days‑to‑cover shown as 0.0—this appears to be a data/reporting anomaly rather than a clear build‑up of short interest, so it creates uncertainty rather than a clear bullish or bearish signal.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On WeRide

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of WRD. NewEdge Advisors LLC purchased a new stake in shares of WeRide in the first quarter valued at approximately $27,000. JPMorgan Chase & Co. purchased a new position in shares of WeRide during the 2nd quarter valued at approximately $30,000. Leonteq Securities AG acquired a new stake in WeRide in the 4th quarter valued at $36,000. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. increased its holdings in WeRide by 37.6% in the 3rd quarter. SBI Securities Co. Ltd. now owns 4,898 shares of the company’s stock worth $48,000 after acquiring an additional 1,339 shares in the last quarter. Finally, Daiwa Securities Group Inc. purchased a new stake in WeRide in the 4th quarter worth $65,000.

Analysts Set New Price Targets

A number of analysts have recently weighed in on WRD shares. Bank of America started coverage on WeRide in a research report on Monday, December 1st. They issued a “buy” rating and a $12.00 price objective for the company. CLSA began coverage on WeRide in a research report on Monday, January 5th. They set an “outperform” rating and a $13.00 target price on the stock. Weiss Ratings reiterated a “sell (d-)” rating on shares of WeRide in a research note on Monday, December 29th. Citigroup restated a “buy” rating on shares of WeRide in a research note on Monday, January 19th. Finally, Zacks Research upgraded shares of WeRide from a “hold” rating to a “strong-buy” rating in a report on Monday. One equities research analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, four have assigned a Buy rating and one has assigned a Sell rating to the stock. Based on data from MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $13.13.

About WeRide

WeRide Inc (NASDAQ: WRD) is a developer of autonomous driving technology focused on providing Level 4 (L4) self-driving solutions for passenger mobility and logistics. The company’s full-stack platform integrates sensors, computing hardware, software algorithms and vehicle controls to enable driverless taxis, shuttles and goods delivery vehicles. By combining perception, planning and controls in a turnkey system, WeRide aims to accelerate the commercialization of robotaxi services and autonomous fleet operations.

Founded in 2017 and headquartered in Guangzhou, China, WeRide maintains research and development centers in Silicon Valley and China.