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Yiwen Lu

Stocks of mortgage giants rise on privatization prospects

Shares of Freddie Mac jumped nearly 40% at market open on Wednesday. Fannie Mae stock rose about 30% and were the top-performing US stocks in the premarket. The two major government-sponsored enterprises, which have been under the control of the Federal Housing Finance Agency since the 2008 financial crisis, are set to benefit from a Trump presidency.

Republicans have hoped that Trump would fulfill a longstanding GOP goal to privatize the two companies, which he attempted to do in 2019. However, Democrats worry that doing so would add to the already high mortgage rates in the most unaffordable housing market in decades.

In a note, Bloomberg Intelligence analyst Ben Elliott said that getting the GSEs out of government conservatorship “remains at best a 2026-27 prospect,” and is contingent on the administration’s pick of Treasury secretary and Federal Housing Finance Agency director.

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Archer Aviation sinks after reporting better-than-expected Q3 loss, announces it will acquire LA’s Hawthorne Airport

Air taxi maker Archer Aviation reported its Q3 results on Thursday, and its shares climbed more than 6% before turning negative.

The company posted a loss per share of $0.20, better than the $0.30 loss analysts polled by FactSet expected.

Archer announced it would acquire Los Angeles’ Hawthorne Airport for $126 million as a strategic hub for its planned LA air taxi network.

Cash is vital for Archer, which is without revenue as it seeks FAA certification. The company ended its third quarter with $1.64 billion in cash (and equivalents), down from last quarter’s $1.72 billion but more than 3x the amount from the same period a year ago.

Archer’s rival Joby Aviation, which reported its third-quarter results on Wednesday, has a cash pile of $978.1 million.

Archer reported adjusted operating expenses of $121.2 million. Looking ahead, Archer said it expects adjusted earnings before interest and taxes to be a loss of between $110 million and $140 million for the fourth quarter. Wall Street expected a $120 million loss.

Earlier this week, Archer shares fell amid the IPO of its electric aircraft rival Beta Technologies. Archer shares are down about 9% this year as of Thursday’s close, far underperforming Joby’s growth of 76%.

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