Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) Stock Falls 11% After Analyst Downgrade

Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR)’s share price was down 11% during mid-day trading on Thursday after Canaccord Genuity Group lowered their price target on the stock from $12.00 to $9.50. Canaccord Genuity Group currently has a buy rating on the stock. Archer Aviation traded as low as $4.32 and last traded at $4.3250. 22,956,520 shares changed hands during mid-day trading, a decline of 34% from the average session volume of 34,541,609 shares. The stock had previously closed at $4.86.

A number of other research analysts have also recently commented on ACHR. Needham & Company LLC dropped their target price on shares of Archer Aviation from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Tuesday. Wells Fargo & Company set a $18.00 price target on shares of Archer Aviation in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. HC Wainwright reaffirmed a “buy” rating on shares of Archer Aviation in a report on Tuesday, August 11th. UBS Group reiterated an “overweight” rating on shares of Archer Aviation in a research report on Tuesday, August 11th. Finally, Barclays raised shares of Archer Aviation from an “equal weight” rating to an “overweight” rating and increased their price objective for the company from $4.50 to $8.00 in a research note on Friday, October 9th. Six research analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has given a Sell rating to the company. According to data from MarketBeat, the stock has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and a consensus price target of $10.58.

Insider Activity at Archer Aviation

In related news, CFO Priya Gupta sold 10,015 shares of Archer Aviation stock in a transaction that occurred on Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.41, for a total transaction of $64,196.15. Following the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 202,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,299,845.44. This trade represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The transaction was disclosed in a filing with the Securities & Exchange Commission, which is available at this hyperlink. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. Also, insider Eric Lentell sold 100,000 shares of Archer Aviation stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The stock was sold at an average price of $6.31, for a total transaction of $631,000.00. Following the sale, the insider owned 85,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $536,419.41. This represents a 54.05% decrease in their ownership of the stock. Additional details regarding this sale are available in the official SEC disclosure. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Insiders sold a total of 176,657 shares of company stock worth $1,122,371 in the last quarter. 5.55% of the stock is owned by insiders.

Recent Archer Aviation Headlines

These are some of the ACHR headlines that stood out recently:

• Positive Sentiment: Archer announced a partnership with Formula One, potentially adding visibility and commercial opportunities for its air-taxi business. Archer Aviation partners with Formula One
• Neutral Sentiment: Third-quarter revenue of $5.1 million topped estimates, but the loss per share of $0.35 was slightly worse than expected. The results therefore offered a small revenue bright spot without easing concerns about profitability. Archer Q3 results and cash burn
• Negative Sentiment: The earnings coverage emphasized substantial cash burn and a reported $274.5 million loss excluding one-off items, while Archer prepares for planned passenger service in 2027. The scale of losses and the time required to reach commercial operations remain risks. Archer stock and FAA progress

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer Aviation

A number of hedge funds have recently modified their holdings of the business. Voya Investment Management LLC grew its stake in shares of Archer Aviation by 48.2% in the third quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 10,118,847 shares of the company’s stock worth $50,291,000 after purchasing an additional 3,289,910 shares during the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its holdings in Archer Aviation by 7.3% in the third quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. now owns 8,072,347 shares of the company’s stock valued at $40,120,000 after purchasing an additional 549,998 shares during the period. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its holdings in Archer Aviation by 703.3% in the first quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC now owns 2,514,300 shares of the company’s stock valued at $12,999,000 after purchasing an additional 2,201,300 shares during the period. Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new stake in Archer Aviation in the second quarter valued at $10,190,000. Finally, Bank of America Corp DE raised its position in Archer Aviation by 33.2% during the 1st quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,136,942 shares of the company’s stock worth $11,048,000 after purchasing an additional 532,762 shares during the last quarter. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.34% of the company’s stock.

Archer Aviation Stock Performance

The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a P/E ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 3.59. The company has a current ratio of 8.02, a quick ratio of 10.21 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10. The company has a 50-day moving average of $4.82 and a 200-day moving average of $5.67.

Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR) last released its quarterly earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The company reported ($0.35) EPS for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of ($0.34) by ($0.01). Archer Aviation had a negative net margin of 7,869.17% and a negative return on equity of 46.62%. The company had revenue of $5.10 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $3.57 million. During the same quarter last year, the firm posted ($0.20) EPS. On average, equities analysts anticipate that Archer Aviation Inc. will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

About Archer Aviation

Archer Aviation is an aerospace company based in San Jose, California, that develops electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft and related services. Its aircraft are designed for short passenger trips, including potential air taxi routes between urban areas and nearby airports. The company’s primary aircraft is Midnight, a piloted eVTOL designed to carry four passengers and a pilot. Archer is working to bring the aircraft to commercial service, subject to regulatory approvals, and is pursuing operations in the United States and international markets.