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

Key Points

• Archer Aviation shares fell 11% to about $4.33 after Canaccord Genuity cut its price target from $12 to $9.50, while maintaining a Buy rating.
• Other analysts also reduced targets, including Needham and Cantor Fitzgerald, though the consensus remains “Moderate Buy” with a $10.58 price target.
• In its latest quarter, Archer reported $5.1 million in revenue, above estimates, but a $0.35-per-share loss that was slightly worse than forecast.

Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR - Get Free Report)'s share price dropped 11% during 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. Approximately 22,956,520 shares traded 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.

ACHR has been the subject of several other research reports. Needham & Company LLC reduced their target price on shares of Archer Aviation from $9.00 to $7.00 and set a "buy" rating for the company in a research note on Tuesday. UBS Group restated an "overweight" rating on shares of Archer Aviation in a research note on Tuesday, August 11th. Weiss Ratings restated a "sell (d-)" rating on shares of Archer Aviation in a research note on Thursday, October 15th. Barclays raised Archer Aviation from an "equal weight" rating to an "overweight" rating and upped their price target for the company from $4.50 to $8.00 in a report on Friday, October 9th. Finally, Cantor Fitzgerald reduced their price objective on Archer Aviation from $11.00 to $10.00 and set an "overweight" rating for the company in a research report on Tuesday. Six investment analysts have rated the stock with a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and one has issued a Sell rating to the company's stock. According to MarketBeat, Archer Aviation presently has a consensus rating of "Moderate Buy" and a consensus price target of $10.58.

Insider Buying and Selling

In other Archer Aviation news, insider Eric Lentell sold 100,000 shares of the firm's stock in a transaction that occurred on Thursday, August 20th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.31, for a total transaction of $631,000.00. Following the sale, the insider directly owned 85,011 shares in the company, valued at approximately $536,419.41. This trade represents a 54.05% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is accessible through this link. The transaction was executed under a pre-arranged Rule 10b5-1 trading plan. Also, CFO Priya Gupta sold 10,015 shares of Archer Aviation stock in a transaction dated Monday, August 17th. The shares were sold at an average price of $6.41, for a total value of $64,196.15. Following the completion of the sale, the chief financial officer directly owned 202,784 shares in the company, valued at $1,299,845.44. This represents a 4.71% decrease in their position. The SEC filing for this sale provides additional information. The sale was made to cover tax withholding obligations related to the vesting of equity awards. In the last quarter, insiders have sold 176,657 shares of company stock valued at $1,122,371. 5.55% of the stock is owned by company insiders.

Archer Aviation News Summary

Investors following ACHR have been watching these news items:

• Positive Sentiment: A separate report highlights Archer’s ITA Airways partnership to pursue air-taxi service in Italy, including airport-to-city routes, which could extend its reach in Europe. Archer and ITA Airways deal
• 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: Several analysts lowered price targets, including Cantor Fitzgerald and Needham; Canaccord also cut its target to $9.50, while retaining a Buy rating. The cuts may weigh on sentiment despite targets remaining above recent trading levels. Wall Street target changes

Hedge Funds Weigh In On Archer Aviation

Several institutional investors and hedge funds have recently made changes to their positions in ACHR. Voya Investment Management LLC raised its position in shares of Archer Aviation by 48.2% in the 3rd quarter. Voya Investment Management LLC now owns 10,118,847 shares of the company's stock valued at $50,291,000 after buying an additional 3,289,910 shares in the last quarter. Sumitomo Mitsui Trust Group Inc. increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 549,998 shares during the last quarter. Renaissance Technologies LLC increased its stake 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 acquiring an additional 2,201,300 shares during the last quarter. Bank of America Corp DE increased its stake in Archer Aviation by 33.2% in the first quarter. Bank of America Corp DE now owns 2,136,942 shares of the company's stock valued at $11,048,000 after acquiring an additional 532,762 shares during the last quarter. Finally, Bank of New York Mellon Corp acquired a new position in Archer Aviation during the second quarter valued at approximately $10,190,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 59.34% of the company's stock.

Archer Aviation Trading Down 11.0%

The firm's 50-day simple moving average is $4.82 and its 200 day simple moving average is $5.67. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.10, a current ratio of 8.02 and a quick ratio of 10.21. The firm has a market capitalization of $3.33 billion, a price-to-earnings ratio of -3.52 and a beta of 3.59.

Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR - Get Free Report) last issued its earnings results on Monday, November 9th. The company reported ($0.35) earnings per share 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 business had revenue of $5.10 million during the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $3.57 million. During the same period in the prior year, the business posted ($0.20) EPS. Equities analysts expect that Archer Aviation Inc. will post -1.37 earnings per share for the current year.

Archer Aviation Company Profile

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.

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