Archer Aviation Inc. (ACHR) shares are gaining momentum Monday, up about 14% over the past week, as investors position themselves ahead of the company's first-quarter 2026 earnings report due out after the market close. The broader market is also in the green, with the Nasdaq up 0.23% and the S&P 500 gaining 0.28%.
Wall Street analysts expect Archer to report a loss per share of 27 cents on quarterly revenue of $1.69 million. That's a pretty standard story for a pre-revenue company—lots of spending, not much coming in yet. But the real story here is the regulatory progress and the shifting sentiment among traders.
Recent gains follow news from the UAE General Civil Aviation Authority (GCAA), which moved Archer's Midnight aircraft into a Restricted Type Certificate (RTC) program. This is a big deal because it streamlines the path for initial air taxi operations. "The GCAA is committed to safely integrating innovative aviation technologies," said Aqeel Al Zarooni, Assistant Director General at GCAA.
CEO Adam Goldstein called the UAE program a "major step." Archer is the first eVTOL maker to reach this certification track with the GCAA, and the company plans to launch service in Abu Dhabi with partner Abu Dhabi Aviation. It's a concrete milestone that moves Archer from "maybe someday" to "we're actually doing this."
Meanwhile, the bears are backing off. Short interest fell from 98.66 million to 91.87 million shares, meaning about 14.16% of the float is still short. At average trading volumes, it would take shorts about 3.9 days to cover their positions. That's still a decent amount of bearishness, but the trend is clearly in the other direction.
As of publication Monday, Archer Aviation shares were up 1.23% at $6.56. The stock has been on a nice run, and with earnings on deck, all eyes are on whether the company can deliver on its promises—both financially and operationally.
