Highly Short Stock Serve Robotics Soars After Strong Quarter

Serve Robotics Inc. (NASDAQ:SERV) shares rose in Wednesday’s premarket trading after the autonomous delivery company reported fourth-quarter results that topped Wall Street estimates and raised its fiscal 2026 revenue outlook.

The rally was likely magnified by elevated short interest, with 25% of the public float sold short, signaling substantial bearish positioning that may have fueled a squeeze.

Earnings Snapshot

Serve Robotics reported a fourth-quarter adjusted loss of 34 cents, better than the expected loss of 53 cents per share.

Sales reached $882 thousand, beating the consensus of $762.5 thousand.

The fourth quarter sales exceeded prior guidance and increased roughly 400% compared to the fourth quarter of 2024. Full year 2025 revenue was $2.7 million, above prior guidance of $2.5 million.

Serve Robotics raised its fiscal 2026 sales guidance from $25 million to $26 million.

Performance Metrics

The average number of robots performing daily deliveries was 547, up from 57 a year ago.

Daily supply hours jumped from 455 to 6,676.

Last week, The Bear Cave published a new report raising concerns about the sidewalk delivery robotics company.

The Bear Cave argued expectations for a sharp revenue ramp in 2026 could be undermined by community resistance, robot performance issues in traffic and on sidewalks, and restaurants that have dropped Serve or not expanded beyond early pilots.

In January, Serve Robotics signed a deal to acquire Diligent Robotics, expanding its autonomy platform beyond sidewalk delivery into indoor environments, with hospitals identified as one of the most impactful initial settings.

White Castle Taps Serve Robotics

On Wednesday, Serve Robotics announced a collaboration with White Castle to launch autonomous delivery services via Uber Technologies Inc.’s (NYSE:UBER) Uber Eats platform, marking a significant step in their operational strategy.

This initiative aims to enhance the efficiency of food delivery, leveraging Serve’s AI-powered robotics platform.

The partnership is expected to roll out in select markets, showcasing the potential for autonomous delivery solutions in urban areas.

Serve’s latest third-generation robots are engineered to transport substantial, temperature-sensitive orders.

Elevated Short Interest

The company has 17.88 million shares sold short, representing 25.0% of its 71.523 million share public float, indicating a very high level of short interest among investors betting against the stock.

Technical Analysis

The stock is currently trading 13.1% above its 20-day simple moving average (SMA) but is 3.9% below its 100-day SMA, indicating some short-term strength while facing resistance in the longer term.

Over the past 12 months, shares have increased by 38.74% and are currently positioned closer to their 52-week highs than lows. The RSI is at 45.14, which is considered neutral territory, suggesting that the stock is neither overbought nor oversold.

Meanwhile, MACD shows a value of -0.3880, with the signal line at -0.4548, indicating a bullish crossover as the MACD is above the signal line. The combination of neutral RSI and bullish MACD suggests mixed momentum.

• Key Resistance: $12.50
• Key Support: $9.00

Analyst Consensus & Recent Actions: The stock carries a Buy Rating with an average price target of $32.06. Recent analyst moves include:

• Northland Capital Markets: Outperform (Maintains Target to $26.00) (Jan. 2)
• Freedom Capital Markets: Initiated with Buy (Target $16.00) (Dec. 31, 2025)
• Oppenheimer: Initiated with Outperform (Target $20.00) (Dec. 18, 2025)

Top ETF Exposure

• Inspire Small/Mid Cap ETF (NYSE:ISMD): 0.26% Weight

SERV Price Action: Serve Robotics shares were up 8.79% at $10.52 during premarket trading on Wednesday, according to Benzinga Pro data.

Image by Serve Robotics