Archer Aviation Rises 11% as Boeing Deal Earnings Details Reveal Insitu Generates Over $200M Annually; Joby and EHang Lag

Archer Aviation shares climbed 11% to $6.93 on Tuesday, extending Monday's 12% gain that followed the company's announcement of an all-stock agreement to acquire Boeing's Wisk Aero, Insitu, and SkyGrid subsidiaries, a deal that gives Boeing a 16% stake in Archer.

On Archer's Q2 2026 earnings call, CFO Priya Gupta said the acquired Insitu business is profitable, generating more than $200 million in annual revenue, and is expected to contribute positive free cash flow, enabling Archer to operate on what she called a "self-funding basis." CEO Adam Goldstein described the defense and drone assets as a route to profitability that reduces both cash burn and dilution risk. Archer reported Q2 revenue of $5 million, up 213% quarter over quarter and above the consensus estimate of $1.96 million. The company posted a Q2 adjusted EBITDA loss of $177.1 million, guided Q3 adjusted EBITDA loss to between $170 million and $200 million, and ended the quarter with approximately $1.6 billion in liquidity.

Management said Archer's Midnight aircraft has completed piloted city-to-city flights and stated the company is the only OEM in the final phase of FAA type certification. Executives also highlighted the Halo-Thunder autonomous VTOL platform, developed with Anduril, targeting a total addressable market above $100 billion, with a first flight planned for next year and deliveries in 2029. Joby Aviation fell 2% to $8.59 and EHang Holdings was flat at $5.68, while the Invesco QQQ Trust was essentially unchanged at $720.16. Boeing shares closed Monday at $232.79 and have barely moved on the news. ACHR shares remain down 10% year to date and down 29% over the trailing year, against an analyst consensus price target of $10.50.

Archer's stock move illustrates how eVTOL developers, still pre-revenue on their core air-taxi product, are being valued on adjacent cash-generating assets acquired through corporate deals rather than on certification milestones alone. Insitu's more than $200 million in annual revenue and positive free cash flow gave investors a funding narrative distinct from Archer's own $5 million in quarterly revenue and $177.1 million adjusted EBITDA loss.

This segment typically runs on a mix of equity raises, strategic investment from larger aerospace players, and now, in Archer's case, inherited revenue streams from acquired defense and drone units. Whether that combination genuinely offsets the cash burn tied to the Halo-Thunder programs and Midnight certification will depend on how cleanly Insitu's cash flow is integrated rather than on the stock reaction alone.

The next milestones worth tracking are whether the Boeing transaction closes as structured, how Archer's FAA type certification progresses relative to its stated position as the only OEM in the final phase, and the first flight of Halo-Thunder planned for next year ahead of 2029 deliveries.