Velodyne Lidar surges after Amazon pact with sensor maker
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Velodyne Lidar (NASDAQ:VLDR)
surged 87% in after hours trading after the the sensor maker disclosed a pact with Amazon (NASDAQ:AMZN) including a warrant for the Internet retail giant to purchase up to 39.6M of the company's shares.
The vesting of the warrant shares is based on discretionary payments made by Amazon pursuant to existing commercial agreements between Velodyne and Amazon, according to an 8-K filing. The warrant may be exercised any time before Feb. 4, 2030 at an exercise price of $4.18 per share, which was determined based on the 30-day volume-weighted average price for the common stock as of Feb 3. 
The warrant shares will vest over time based on discretionary payments to Velodyne by Amazon (whether made directly from Amazon, its affiliates or by a third party on behalf of Amazon) of up to $200M, according to the filing.
The positive news from Amazon comes after the stock plunged almost 85% over the past year amid internal struggles at the company with the former CEO stepping down in July. The ousted founder of Velodyne in August called for the resignation of the sensor company's board chairman and a director.
Stocks of other lidar companies also gained on the news in after hours trading with AEye Inc. (NASDAQ:LIDR) +16%, Ouster (NASDAQ:OSTR)
+3.4%, Luminar Technologies +3.8%, MicroVision (NASDAQ:MVIS) +4%, Aeva Technologies (NYSE:AEVA)
+2.4% and Aurora Innovation (NASDAQ:AUR)
+1%.
Last month, Velodyne Lidar jumps 4% after signing five-year sales pact with QinetiQ.