By admin 
The trail ahead for this whole new industry continues to be cleared.
Shares of Archer Aviation (ACHR 11.04%) rekindled their choppy recovery rally today, up 11.7% as of 2:33 p.m. ET. While the reason for the big move doesn’t directly translate into real revenue or profit progress, it certainly makes both much more likely than was first anticipated.
An executive order further clears a trail
Credit President Donald Trump, mostly. With an executive order signed late Friday, the U.S. president has hastened the advent of the United States’ electric air taxi industry that will provide personal mobility from one specific inner-city location to another. The order explicitly requests that the Secretary of Transportation begin laying the groundwork for the development of an official eVTOL (electric vertical takeoff and landing) pilot program that includes the participation of at least one “private sector partner with demonstrated experience in eVTOL aircraft development, manufacturing, and operations.”
Image source: Getty Images.
Archer Aviation qualifies. Its so-called Midnight aircraft capable of flying like an airplane but taking off and landing like a helicopter is not only fully electrically powered, but has already made several hundred successful test flights. Moreover, the company itself is already laying the groundwork for commercial operations in New York and Los Angeles. Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy could readily meet President Trump’s accelerated timeline goals using Archer’s work to date.
Bolstering the tailwind already blowing
There’s no assurance that Archer Aviation will be one of the private sector outfits brought into this regulatory fold, of course. There are others that qualify, like Joby Aviation.
There’s also no reason to suspect that only one private operator will become involved in this official test initiative though. And, given that Archer is developing a version of its Midnight aircraft specifically for the U.S. Air Force, its technology also already arguably has the U.S. government’s unofficial approval. And, whether or not Archer is selected for involvement with the Secretary of Transportation’s new mandate, there’s more than ample opportunity for more than one air taxi service provider in the U.S. alone, not to mention overseas. Industry research outfit Global Market Insights believes the world’s air taxi market is poised to grow at an average annualized pace of more than 20% per year through 2032, led by North America.
More important to interested investors, Trump’s executive order creates more room and reason for Archer Aviation stock to continue rallying from here. Although the start-up is still years away from profitable operations — and as such still poses tremendous risk to its shareholders — the potential upside is commensurate with this risk.
James Brumley has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.