Archer Aviation published on March 2 its fourth-quarter and full-year 2025 financial results, reporting a record liquidity position alongside one of the company’s most significant regulatory milestones, becoming the first electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) manufacturer to achieve full Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) acceptance of its aircraft’s Means of Compliance. Despite the milestone, Archer’s stock dropped 4.3% in after-hours trading on Tuesday, according to Coin Central.

Archer’s record its firsts ever revenue

In Q4 2025, the company recorded its first-ever revenue of $0.3 million, derived from leasing hangar space at Hawthorne Municipal Airport near Los Angeles, which the company acquired during the year. While this is a milestone, management notes that they do not expect significant revenues from their primary lines of business (commercial air taxi and defense) until aircraft manufacturing and certification are complete.

As the company ramps up operations toward commercialization, its spending is growing accordingly. Archer’s net loss widened to $618.2 million in 2025, a 15.2% increase from the prior year, which reflects heavier investment in research and development (R&D), expanded general and administrative expenses, and the broader operational costs of preparing Midnight for flight testing and production readiness. Net cash used in operating activities followed the same trajectory, rising from $368.6 million in 2024 to $432.9 million in 2025.

Despite these widening losses, Archer ended 2025 with $1,964.7 million in cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments, the highest quarter-end liquidity figure in the company’s history, funded through $1.8 billion in equity raised during the year.

Additionally, Archer projected a first-quarter 2026 earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortization (EBITDA) loss between $160 million and $180 million. Acting CFO Priya Gupta described the increase as targeted investment rather than uncontrolled burn.

Certification and regulatory progress

Furthermore, Archer had a major development in January 2026. The California-based eVTOL developer became the first company to achieve 100% FAA acceptance of its eVTOL aircraft’s Means of Compliance, a crucial regulatory benchmark that defines the testing standards by which the aircraft must demonstrate airworthiness.

Its full acceptance closes Phase 3 of Archer’s four-phase FAA type certification programme and unlocks the final implementation phase. The company expects Type Inspection Authorization activities to begin on the Midnight program as soon as this year.

Archer also highlighted progress in piloted VTOL flight testing, noting an expanding Midnight fleet engaged in advanced test points ahead of full piloted transition. The company reaffirmed its targets for piloted VTOL operations later in 2026 as part of the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program in the U.S. and commercial launch efforts in the United Arab Emirates.

In addition to the FAA progress, Archer has secured a restricted type certification program with the UAE’s General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), positioning it for piloted operations and passenger flights in that market. The Middle East has become a priority launch region, however, the company’s commercialisation plans come at a moment of heightened geopolitical uncertainty in the Gulf, which Adam Goldstein, CEO of Archer acknowledged on the earnings call.

“Our team and partners in the region are in our thoughts, and their safety will always be our top priority,” Goldstein added, “We will continue to monitor the situation closely. Despite that current uncertainty, we remain focused on rapidly progressing our commercialization strategy in the UAE.”

The market reaction

Despite the significant regulatory progress and robust liquidity, the results triggered a 4.3% after-hours decline in Archer’s stock. According to Barron’s, the drop likely reflects investor concern over wider-than-expected EBITDA losses and Q1 2026 guidance that came in well above analyst estimates.

Archer continues to target first passenger-carrying flights in both the US and UAE in 2026 as it pushes toward meaningful revenue generation. The market’s reaction highlights how sensitive investors remain to the pace of losses and the timing of commercial ramp-up, a tension that 2026 will go some way toward resolving.