NEW YORK, June 23, 2026, 17:03 EDT
- Archer ended off 3.3%, trading close to its 52-week low.
- Analyst price targets suggest the stock might more than double.
- Q1 revenue stayed low, coming mainly from the Hawthorne Airport lease. Aircraft sales did not contribute much.
Archer Aviation shares fell 3.3% Tuesday, sending the air-taxi maker near its 52-week low again. The move spotlights a big valuation gap, with the company still at close to $4 billion in market value while first-quarter revenue was only $1.6 million.
Shares of Archer wrapped up Tuesday at $5.25, about 9% above the 52-week low of $4.80 and still 64% off the 52-week high of $14.62. FactSet numbers cited by WSJ put the average analyst price target at $11.38, or 117% higher than the latest close. Volume hit 38.4 million shares, trailing the 65-day average, so this wasn’t a heavy selloff session.
Sales aren’t getting much focus. Annualizing Archer’s Q1 revenue against its current market cap lands the price-to-sales ratio near 630. The metric is basic, especially for a business that hasn’t launched commercially, but it shows where the value sits: certification, building planes, and what routes could earn—not what’s coming in today.
Archer reported first-quarter revenue of $1.6 million, with $1.0 million coming mostly from hangar leases at Hawthorne Airport. Operating expenses totaled $256.2 million. The net loss widened to $217.7 million from $93.4 million a year ago. Archer said it held $1.78 billion in cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments at the end of March. The company expects more losses and higher operating expenses going forward.
That’s why the market is holding back. Archer isn’t priced like an airport landlord or an existing aircraft producer. It’s priced like an eVTOL outfit — an electric vertical takeoff and landing bet running battery-powered aircraft built to rise like a helicopter and cruise like a jet.
Losses hit across the group. Joby Aviation dropped around 3.3% and Vertical Aerospace gave up 3.1%. The SPDR S&P Aerospace & Defense ETF finished down 0.8%. The QQQ tech ETF was off 3.3%, with growth stocks down harder all over the market.
Archer is pitching itself as more than just air taxis, trying to position as a bigger aerospace player. In May, the company said it expected U.S. operations to start this year as part of the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. Archer also said it finished Phase 3 in the FAA’s four-step type-cert process for its Midnight craft. CEO Adam Goldstein called Archer “far more than an air taxi company,” mentioning defense projects and AI software. Archer Aviation
Analysts are sticking with the story. WSJ data show five buys, one overweight, two holds, and no sells. Price targets are up, but estimates move the other way: the expected second-quarter loss per share is now 34 cents, more than the 32-cent loss seen three months ago. For 2026, analysts see a $1.35 loss, compared with $1.32 before.
Bulls want to see more than orders and deals. Needham’s Chris Pierce told Reuters in January the real positive would be Archer showing the Midnight can fly the full envelope—handling every condition it needs to.
The risk is certification, lawsuits, or new funding taking longer than the cash runway story allows. The Verge said this week that no air taxi firm has finished FAA type certification for commercial passenger flights in the U.S. Archer, Joby, and Vertical are still tied up in lawsuits. Archer legal head Eric Lentell claimed Vertical’s plane copies parts of the Midnight design, while Vertical spokesperson Justin Bates called the claim “without merit” and a “distraction.” The Verge
The stock looks stuck between two timers right now. There’s the certification process, and there’s the cash burn. Tuesday’s drop made it pretty clear investors are watching the spending side closer at the moment.
