All of the sudden, the stock market seems to be running out of steam.
There’s no big mystery here. War in the Mideast has pushed up oil prices, which will help keep inflation elevated. And annoyingly high price increases in March have already pushed the June Fed rate cuts the market was banking on farther into the uncertain future.
All that’s added up to higher interest rates and lower stock prices.
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%.
