阿彻航空是当今最聪明的投资吗？

Leo Sun, The Motley Fool

August 17, 2025 5 min read

Key Points

Archer Aviation hasn't generated any revenue yet.
But it's sitting on a big backlog that nearly matches its market cap.
It plans to significantly expand its business over the next few years.
10 stocks we like better than Archer Aviation ›

Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR), a developer of electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, has seen its stock soar more than 180% over the past 12 months. That rally was driven by the market's enthusiasm for the nascent eVTOL market, but the company hasn't actually generated any revenue yet and continues to rack up steep losses.

Should you hop on that bandwagon and expect the stock to soar? Or is too much growth already baked into its market cap of $6.6 billion?

What does Archer Aviation do?

Archer's Midnight eVTOL aircraft can carry a single pilot and four passengers. It travels up to 100 miles on a single charge with a maximum speed of 150 miles per hour. Its drone-like design makes it easier to land in crowded urban areas than traditional helicopters.

Many companies, including United Airlines (NASDAQ: UAL), Future Flight Global, Soracle -- a joint venture between Japan Airlines (OTC: JAPSY) and Sumitomo (OTC: SSUM.F) -- Ethiopian Airlines, and Abu Dhabi Aviation, plan to use the Midnight for their air taxi services.

Archer also plans to launch its own air taxi service within the next two years, and it will be the official air taxi services provider for the 2028 Summer Olympics in Los Angeles.

One of Archer's biggest investors is the automaker Stellantis (NYSE: STLA), which hired it as the contract manufacturer for its own eVTOL aircraft. Archer also holds a contract with the U.S. Air Force. It delivered its first aircraft to the Air Force for testing purposes last year, and it expects to deliver five more under that contract over the next few years.

When will Archer start to generate revenue?

Before Archer went public by merging with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2021, it claimed it would deliver its first 10 eVTOLs and generate $42 million in revenue in 2024. But it didn't generate any revenue last year as it racked up a net loss of $652 million.

That big miss was disappointing, but Archer expects to ramp up its production to 10 aircraft in 2025, 48 aircraft in 2026, 252 in 2027, and 650 in 2028. With a backlog of about $6 billion, there's plenty of pent-up demand.

Archer's manufacturing partnership with Stellantis, its new AI partnership with Palantir to optimize its manufacturing and aviation systems, and fresh rounds of funding could help it achieve those ambitious goals. But it has also more than doubled its number of outstanding shares since its public debut, and that dilution will likely continue as it subsidizes its salaries with big stock bonuses and issues more shares to fund its acquisitions.