NEW YORK, Jan 3, 2026, 18:20 ET — Market closed
- Archer Aviation ended Friday up about 8.4% at $8.13, outperforming broader U.S. benchmarks.
- A new SEC filing showed an Archer officer plans to sell up to 125,000 shares.
- Traders turn to U.S. data next week and a late-February earnings window on market calendars.
Archer Aviation Inc shares ended Friday up about 8.4% at $8.13, after swinging between $7.51 and $8.20. Roughly 45 million shares changed hands.
The move matters now because early-stage “advanced air mobility” stocks tend to trade on shifts in risk appetite as much as company-specific headlines. Smaller-growth names broadly caught a bid, with the Russell 2000 tracker IWM up about 1.1%, while SPY edged higher and QQQ dipped.
Other electric air taxi developers advanced alongside Archer. Joby Aviation rose about 8.8%, Eve Holding gained about 4.8% and EHang climbed about 9.6%.
Traders are still treating the group as a high-beta corner of aerospace, where timelines for certification, testing and initial routes can quickly shift sentiment.
A filing on Friday showed Archer officer Thomas Muniz filed a Form 144 to sell up to 125,000 Class A shares, listing an aggregate market value of $1 million. Form 144 is an SEC notice used by affiliates to signal an intent to sell restricted or “control” securities under Rule 144; it does not guarantee a sale will occur. SEC
The Form 144 said the shares were acquired through restricted stock vesting as compensation in May 2024, and listed an approximate sale date of Jan. 2. The filing also reported a prior sale of 90,648 shares on Nov. 17, 2025.
Investors continue to focus on the policy and regulatory runway for electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft, or eVTOLs — battery-powered aircraft designed to lift off like a helicopter. In a Dec. 17 press release tied to the U.S. eVTOL Integration Pilot Program, CEO Adam Goldstein said: “We’re past the question of ‘if’ and firmly into ‘when and how.’” Archer Aviation
That release said the FAA is expected to review early applications for the program and announce selections in early to mid-2026, a timeline traders see as one of the nearer policy checkpoints for the sector.
Before the next session on Monday, traders will watch the Institute for Supply Management’s Manufacturing PMI report, due at 10:00 a.m. ET, which can move rate expectations and the appetite for high-risk growth stocks.
The U.S. Employment Situation report for December is scheduled for Jan. 9, and the Fed’s next policy meeting is set for Jan. 27-28, according to official calendars. Philadelphia Fed President Anna Paulson said on Saturday that further rate cuts may take a while, underscoring the market’s sensitivity to incoming data.
Archer has not announced the date for its next earnings report; market calendars currently point to late February. Nasdaq and Zacks list Feb. 26 as the current estimate.
On the chart, Friday’s low near $7.51 and high around $8.20 set the nearest support and resistance levels heading into Monday’s open. Without fresh company news, traders often treat moves in ACHR as a proxy for broader risk sentiment in the emerging air-taxi trade.
