Archer Aviation Inc. (ACHR) shares climbed Friday afternoon in a surprising display of market resilience, brushing off what could have been a devastating blow from a short seller report.
What Happened: Hunterbrook Media released a report Friday morning making some pretty serious allegations about Archer's recent activities at the Dubai Airshow. The central claim? That Archer never actually flew its Midnight eVTOL aircraft at the event as promised.
According to the report, while competitor Joby Aviation Inc. (JOBY) was conducting multiple public flights at the airshow, Archer's aircraft sat grounded as a static display. Even more interesting, Hunterbrook claims the flight test footage Archer promoted during the event wasn't filmed at the airshow at all—it was actually shot at Al Ain International Airport, more than 50 miles away.
MarketDash has reached out to Archer Aviation for comment on these allegations.
Legal Troubles Pile On: The report also highlighted a fresh lawsuit that Joby filed against Archer and a former employee named George Kivork. The suit alleges trade secret theft and claims Kivork was induced to breach his contract when moving to Archer.
Now here's where things get interesting from a disclosure perspective: Hunterbrook Capital revealed it holds a short position in Archer and a long position in Joby. So they have skin in the game on both sides of this rivalry.
Market Reaction: Despite all these accusations swirling around, Archer stock actually ticked upward on Friday afternoon, rising 2.33% to $7.03. That's not exactly the reaction you'd typically expect after a damaging short report hits the wires.
According to market data, Archer Aviation currently holds a Momentum score of 27.89, which is relatively low on a scale that measures recent price trends and trading patterns.
The Bottom Line: This situation highlights the ongoing competition in the electric vertical takeoff and landing space, where companies are racing to prove their technology works while battling over intellectual property and market credibility. Whether Archer's stock resilience holds up as investors digest the full implications of these allegations remains to be seen.
