Shares of Archer Aviation (ACHR 22.03%) are surging on Tuesday. The company's stock gained 22.7% as of 2:11 p.m. ET and was up as much as 26.7% earlier in the day. The jump comes as the S&P 500 (^GSPC 0.93%) gained 0.8% and the Nasdaq Composite (^IXIC 1.76%) rose 1.6%.

The company, which develops electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft, reported its Q1 2025 numbers and announced an exciting new partnership.

The company is on track

The company is pre-revenue, but it reported a reasonable net loss of $93.4 million for the quarter. With more than $1 billion in cash and equivalents on hand, the company has plenty of room to run and has one of the strongest balance sheets in the emerging industry.

Archer is on track to launch in the UAE later this year, a major milestone for the company as it begins to commercialize its business. The company also has customer commitments from established airlines and specific plans for a NYC air taxi network using its aircraft. CEO Adam Goldstein emphasized the company's momentum in his statement: "This quarter, the team made strong progress across our civil and defense efforts as we continue to deepen our strategic partner relationships and prepare for commercialization in the UAE later this year."

Image source: Getty Images.

Palantir partnership

Archer also announced a "foundational partnership" with the AI-powered data analytics company Palantir Technologies to help it optimize its technology. This could give the company an edge over the competition, speeding up its development timelines and boosting efficiencies and its bottom line.

With a market capitalization of more than $6 billion, Archer is not cheap. However, I think there is a significant opportunity for the industry that will justify this over time. For risk-tolerant investors, Archer is a good choice, but expect some turbulence on the way up -- pun intended.