Archer expects to deliver first revenue generating aircraft this year
Archer Aviation said its expects to deliver its first revenue generating eVTOL aircraft later this year to helicopter operator Abu Dhabi Aviation.
The eVTOL aircraft developer posted its fourth quarter (Q4) and full-year 2024 results on Thursday, along with its first forecasts for Q1 2025 and beyond.
The company ended the last quarter of the fiscal year with a net loss of $198m – $82.8m more than the $115m reported in the third quarter. Archer attributed this increase to change in fair value of its warrant liabilities.
On the flip side, the company managed to keep its total operating expenses relatively flat $124.2m, slightly higher than $122m in third quarter.
Overall, during the fiscal year, the company’s net loss amounted to $536.8m, due to increased expenses and lower income. Adjusted EBITDA loss for Q4 remained steady at $94.8m, while the full-year loss increased by $63.6m largely because of investment in development and manufacturing scale-up.
However, Archer ended the year with $834.5m in cash and equivalents, its highest ever quarter-end balance. A $301.8m direct offering in early 2025 brought Archer’s total liquidity to approximately $1.1bn, with potential access imminent to $390m from a pending Stellantis agreement.
Looking to 2025, Archer anticipates an adjusted EBITDA loss of $95m to $110m for Q1. A little further out, the company expects to deliver its first aircraft that will operate commercially to Abu Dhabi Aviation. The OEM hopes to build 10 aircraft in 2025 at its “ARC” facility in Covington, Georgia, US.
Adam Goldstein, Archer’s founder and CEO said: “With our new Launch Edition programme now in place and aircraft production starting at ARC, we are on track to deliver our first revenue-generating Midnight aircraft later this year. Our billion-dollar plus liquidity position gives us the resources we need to execute against our civil and defence business strategies while also setting us up to seize new opportunities around AI and more.”
The delivery will be the first in Archer’s Launch Edition programme, which aims to establish a “repeatable playbook” to deploy Midnight commercially to “dozens” of markets in advance of type certification of the aircraft by the FAA. Archer also plans to provide Abu Dhabi Aviation with a team of pilots, technicians and engineers.
The company has now finalised its project-specific certification plan with the General Civil Aviation Authority of UAE (GCAA). Once compliance data has been accepted by the regulator, Archer will begin flight testing the aircraft with Abu Dhabi Aviation. Testing efforts will focus on high-temperature operations as conditions can exceed 110 degrees during the day, according to Archer.
Archer will also continue with its recently announced defence play in partnership with Anduril Industries. The pair are developing a hybrid VTOL aircraft for defence applications, seeking a programme of record with US Department of Defense. In its shareholder letter published this week, Archer said it believes the potential demand for this aircraft is “stronger than expected”.
