Archer Q2 2026 Earnings: Revenue Reaches $5 Million as Spending Expands

Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) reported Q2 2026 revenue of $5.0 million, compared with no revenue in Q2 2025, while diluted GAAP loss per share narrowed to $0.34 from $0.36. The apparent per-share improvement contrasted with a wider net loss of $263.2 million, as spending increased for Midnight testing and certification, production, hybrid-aircraft development and the ZEE aviation AI model; adjusted EBITDA loss was $177.1 million.

Core financial results

Revenue increased by $3.4 million from Q1 2026 as Archer expanded operations at its Hawthorne Airport fixed-base operator business. With $4.3 million in cost of revenue, the quarter implies approximately $0.7 million of gross profit and a gross margin of about 14%; no meaningful year-over-year growth rate can be calculated because the company reported no revenue in the prior-year quarter.

Costs remained much larger than the emerging revenue base. Total operating expenses rose approximately 61% year over year, while the GAAP operating loss widened by about 59%.

Stock-based compensation was the largest adjustment between GAAP and non-GAAP operating expenses, rising to $85.6 million from $51.8 million. The company also excluded $6.0 million of litigation-related expense and $0.4 million of acquisition-related expense from its non-GAAP results.

Sequentially, net loss increased by $45.5 million from Q1. Archer attributed the change mainly to $28.0 million of additional operating expenses, a $18.8 million reduction primarily related to non-cash warrant revaluation gains and $2.2 million less net interest income, partly offset by higher revenue.

Business development and operating milestones

Archer announced plans to acquire Boeing’s Wisk Aero, Insitu and SkyGrid. The transaction is intended to combine those companies’ autonomy and airspace-intelligence technologies with Archer’s ZEE aviation AI model. Insitu alone is expected to add more than $200 million in annual revenue based on its current financials and estimates, with operations across 35 countries.

That potential revenue was not part of Archer’s Q2 results, and the transaction remains subject to closing conditions. Boeing is also expected to take a strategic stake in Archer and enter a technology-sharing and collaboration arrangement.

In July, after the quarter ended, Archer and Anduril unveiled Halo and Thunder, the commercial and defense versions of a jointly developed autonomous hybrid VTOL platform. The variants use the same airframe, hybrid powertrain and core systems but support different mission payloads.

Archer also introduced ZEE, an aviation-focused AI foundation model designed to use information including air traffic control communications, ADS-B, aircraft state, terrain and weather data. Separately, Midnight completed piloted flights between Salinas Municipal Airport and Monterey Regional Airport as Archer prepared for operations under the White House’s eVTOL Integration Pilot Program.

Profitability, cash flow and the balance sheet

Research and development expense increased approximately 52% year over year to $186.0 million, while general and administrative expense rose about 75% to $93.9 million. Archer linked the higher spending to flight testing, certification and production work for Midnight, along with investments in its hybrid aircraft and ZEE.

The company used $156.4 million of cash in operating activities during Q2, spent $37.1 million on property and equipment and used $25.0 million to acquire the Hawthorne Airport fixed-base operator business. Consequently, cash, cash equivalents and short-term investments declined by $215.3 million from Q1 to $1.561 billion. Archer also held $7.3 million of restricted cash.

On a six-month basis, operating cash use increased to $305.5 million from $198.0 million a year earlier. Capital expenditures for the six-month period rose to $69.7 million from $28.9 million. At quarter-end, Archer reported approximately $80.1 million of current and long-term debt.

A larger share count narrowed the per-share loss despite a wider net loss

Archer’s diluted loss per share declined to $0.34 from $0.36 even though its absolute net loss increased by $57.2 million year over year. The difference reflects a roughly 35% increase in weighted-average shares to 781.7 million from 579.2 million, spreading the loss across more shares. Investors therefore need to consider the absolute losses and share count alongside the per-share figure when evaluating the quarter.

Guidance

Archer expects a Q3 2026 adjusted EBITDA loss of $170 million to $200 million. The range is unchanged from the guidance range used for Q2, when the actual adjusted EBITDA loss of $177.1 million came in near the lower-loss end.

This is a comparison between consecutive quarterly ranges rather than a revision to guidance for the same period. Archer did not provide a GAAP reconciliation because future stock-based compensation and warrant fair-value changes cannot be reasonably predicted.

Recent insider transactions

The supplied insider data shows 1,108,081 shares purchased across 20 transactions and 606,493 shares sold across 15 transactions during the previous six months. That produced net purchases of 501,588 shares, equal to a reported 0.40% of total insider shares held. The latest transaction records containing complete direction and value information were sales.

The supplied extract does not provide the share quantities for these four individual sales. The transactions should therefore be viewed as objective disclosures rather than evidence of insiders’ expectations for the company.

Risks investors need to watch

• Ongoing cash consumption: Quarterly operating cash use, capital expenditures and acquisition spending reduced available cash and short-term investments by $215.3 million from Q1. Continued development spending could keep cash use elevated.
• Certification and commercialization execution: Archer is investing heavily in testing, certification and production before Midnight operations reach broader commercial scale. Delays could extend the period of limited revenue and substantial operating losses.
• Boeing transaction uncertainty: The Wisk, Insitu and SkyGrid acquisitions remain subject to closing conditions. Regulatory delays, integration costs or failure to realize anticipated benefits could change the transaction’s expected financial contribution.
• Large non-cash and non-GAAP adjustments: Stock-based compensation reached $85.6 million, while warrant revaluations affected other income. These items can create meaningful differences between GAAP losses, adjusted EBITDA and per-share results.

Summary

Archer generated its first year-over-year comparable quarterly revenue base through Hawthorne Airport operations, but development and administrative spending continued to expand much faster than revenue, widening both GAAP and adjusted losses. The company retains $1.561 billion in cash, equivalents and short-term investments, while its next phase depends on certification progress, cash discipline and completion of the planned Boeing asset acquisitions. Q3 adjusted EBITDA guidance indicates that substantial losses are expected to continue in the near term.