Al Root

The battle for flying-car dominance is escalating.

On Monday, days after Joby Aviation completed a 12-minute, 12-mile piloted flight with its electric takeoff and landing, or eVTOL, aircraft, Archer Aviation announced it completed a 31-minute, 51-mile flight with its eVTOL.

eVOTLs are quiet, relatively cheap, and relatively easy to fly, aircraft that can theoretically operate in densely populated urban areas, which is why they are sometimes referred to as flying cars. eVTOLs are a key enabling technology for shorter-haul air-taxi services.

"I've been a longtime supporter of bringing sustainable forms of aviation to market," said Mike Leskinen, Executive Vice President and CFO of United Airlines, who watched the test flight. "Congratulations to the Archer team on achieving this milestone flight -- I was impressed by how quiet the aircraft was."

Archer plans to commercialize its eVTOL technology in the Middle East by the end of 2025, with entry to service in the U.S. by 2026. Joby is on a similar timeline.

Archer stock didn't get a bump from the test flight. Coming into Wednesday trading, shares were down 5.4% for the week. Shares fell 5.7% on Tuesday on what felt like a risk-off day for the market. Shares of Joby Aviation fell 7.5%. Rocket Lab stock dropped 9% while the Nasdaq Composite fell 1.5%.

Joby stock dropped 4.3% after completing its test flight. Investors might be taking profit. Both stocks have been incredibly strong lately. Despite recent weakness, Joby and Archer shares were up 194% and 157%, respectively, over the past 12 months, coming into Wednesday trading.

Archer stock was down 1% at $9.20 in premarket trading, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were down 0.1%. Joby shares were down 1.4% at $14.65.

Combined, the companies have a market value of roughly $19 billion, showing investors are hopeful about the technology. Profit, however, is still down the road. Neither company is expected to be profitable by the end of the decade, according to estimates aggregated by FactSet.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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August 20, 2025 08:24 ET (12:24 GMT)

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