Stock Market Today, July 20: Archer Aviation Surges 20% on Thunder VTOL Platform Unveiling with Anduril

Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR), an eVTOL aircraft developer and urban air mobility operator, closed at $5.31, up 19.59%. Shares jumped after Archer and Anduril unveiled Thunder, a Group 5 autonomous attack rotorcraft. Investors are watching commercial partner announcements and defense demand next. Trading volume reached 95.7M shares, coming in about 125% above its three-month average of 42.6M shares. Archer Aviation IPO’d in 2020 and has fallen 47% since going public.

How the markets moved today

S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) slipped 0.17% to 7,445, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) edged down 0.05% to 25,508. Among aerospace and defense peers focused on electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft development and manufacturing, Joby Aviation closed at $7.47, up 3.32%, and Vertical Aerospace ended at $1.61, up 8.78%.

What this means for investors

Archer and promising private defense unicorn Anduril paired to develop a hybrid-electric VTOL platform that the companies believe will usher in the next generation of vertical lift capabilities for both commercial and defense customers. Shane Arnott, the SVP of Maneuver Dominance at Anduril, explained, “The clean-sheet, dual-use platform that we’ve built with Archer truly represents a step change in capability.”

The companies are planning for Thunder’s first flight in 2027, and Archer plans to announce its first commercial customers for the new platform later this week.

Despite today’s pop, Archer is still down 55% over the last year, and its $4 billion market cap could prove far too small if eVTOLs become commonplace over the coming decades. That said, it is going to be a highly volatile ride, and profitability is likely years away at best, so if you like the stock’s prospects, I’d advise making small bets over time, rather than going “all-in” in one purchase.

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