Archer Aviation Inc. today announced operating and financial results for the first quarter ended 31 March 2026. The Company issued a shareholder letter from founder and CEO, Adam Goldstein, discussing highlights from the quarter.

Commenting on first quarter 2026 results, Adam Goldstein said:

"This was another banner quarter for Archer. We made tremendous progress towards beginning operations in the US later this year, with record FAA certification progress and our most expansive flight testing to date. But what is clear to me is that Archer is far more than an air taxi company. Our defence and AI software efforts are advancing quickly, and they're opening up an even bigger future for us. We're investing and building accordingly."

Live Webcast Details

Archer will host a live webcast to discuss its results at 2:00 p.m. Pacific Time today.

Recent Highlights

US Operations Expected to Begin this Year Under eIPP and in Preparation for LA28 Olympic Games

Archer expects Midnight operations in American cities to begin this year as part of the White House's eIPP and in preparation to serve as the Official Air Taxi Provider of the LA28 Olympic Games, in coordination with the DOT and FAA. Archer was recently selected as an air taxi partner in 3 winning applications encompassing 8 states, including Florida, Texas, and New York.

The eIPP and the LA28 Olympic Games pave the way for Archer to showcase its air taxi technology in parallel with its continued work toward FAA Type Certification for Midnight.

Record FAA Certification Progress

In April, Archer reached a key milestone on its path to FAA Type Certification of Midnight, becoming the first eVTOL company to close Phase 3 of the FAA's 4-phase Type Certification process.

In parallel with its work to close out Phase 3, Archer has been driving progress in Phase 4 for some time now. This is where Midnight's compliance with FAA airworthiness requirements will be demonstrated through formal testing and analysis. Phase 4 builds on the certification basis, means of compliance, and test plans established in the earlier phases.

Advanced Commercial Readiness

Archer's flight test programme continued to expand this quarter, with piloted VTOL and CTOL flights across its expanded fleet occurring nearly every day, often multiple times a day. Click here to view a video of Archer's recent flight test highlights.

Archer also took over operations of Hawthorne Airport in LA, marking a key step in its plan to develop the site into the airport of the future. Located near LAX and several major LA sports and entertainment venues, Hawthorne Airport is expected to anchor Archer's planned LA air taxi operations whilst also serving as an innovation hub for next-generation aviation technologies.

Significant Progress on Dual-Use, Hybrid, Autonomous Aircraft

Archer's work continues alongside Anduril on its dual-use, hybrid, autonomous aircraft, with the goal of delivering one of the most sophisticated vertical lift platforms ever developed in this category. As part of this programme, Archer anticipates beginning to win phased government awards this year.

Rapidly Advancing AI Stack

Archer continued to advance its AI stack this quarter through partnerships with three category-defining technology leaders. NVIDIA is integrating its IGX Thor platform to power safety-capable onboard compute and autonomy-ready flight systems. Starlink will deliver high-speed, low-latency LEO satellite connectivity for Midnight aircraft. And our partner Palantir was recently downselected as a finalist for the FAA's SMART AI project, instrumental to DOT's ~$20B air traffic control modernisation effort.

Ended Quarter With ~$1.8 Billion in Liquidity

Archer continues to maintain a strong balance sheet with ~$1.8B in liquidity and limited debt exposure. Q1 2026 marks another quarter of demonstrating consistent financial execution, with Archer meeting its Adjusted EBITDA loss guidance for the quarter.

First Quarter 2026 Financial Results

We reference several non-GAAP metrics in the financial discussion that follows. Unless otherwise noted or defined, our non-GAAP metrics are calculated by starting with the equivalent GAAP metric. A reconciliation of non-GAAP financial measures to the most comparable GAAP measures is provided below in the section titled "GAAP to Non-GAAP Reconciliation".

Key Financial Highlights

Liquidity & Cash Flows

– We ended Q1 2026 with $1,775.9 million of cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments on our balance sheet and an additional $7.3 million of restricted cash.

– Our Q1 2026 cash, cash equivalents, and short-term investments decreased by $188.8 million from Q4 2025, primarily due to the $149.1 million cash used in operating activities and $32.6 million used in the purchase of property and equipment.

Revenue

– Our Q1 2026 Revenue increased by $1.3 million from Q4 2025 to $1.6 million as we expanded operations at the Hawthorne Airport in LA.

Operating Expenses & Net Loss

– Q1 2026 Operating Expenses increased by $21.5 million from Q4 2025 as we continued to invest in expanding flight testing, certification efforts, and production activities for our Midnight aircraft, along with the investment in the design and development efforts for our hybrid aircraft.

– Q1 2026 Net Loss increased by $28.8 million from Q4 2025 primarily driven by $21.5 million increase in operating expenses, $7.3 million decrease in non-cash gain within other income (expense), net, and a $1.2 million decrease in interest income, net, offset by $1.3 million increase in revenue generated.

Adjusted EBITDA

– Q1 2026 Adjusted EBITDA was a loss of $172.5 million, which is within the guidance range of $160 million - $180 million. The loss was a planned increase of $34.6 million over Q4 2025, mainly due to the reasons mentioned above for the increase in operating expenses.

Q2 2026 Financial Estimates

Archer's financial estimates for the second quarter of 2026 are as follows:

– Adjusted EBITDA expected to be a loss of $170 million to $200 million.

We have not reconciled our Adjusted EBITDA estimates because certain items that impact non-GAAP metrics are uncertain or out of our control and cannot be reasonably predicted. In particular, stock-based compensation expense and change in fair value of warrants is impacted by the future fair market value of our common stock and warrants along with other factors, all of which are difficult to predict, subject to frequent change, or not within our control. The actual amount of these expenses during 2026 will have a significant impact on our future GAAP financial results. Accordingly, a reconciliation of non-GAAP metrics is not available without unreasonable effort.