The Trump Administration Just Rewarded Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation. Which One Is the Big Winner?
Key Points
The Department of Transportation just announced eight winning proposals for an eVTOL pilot program.
Archer Aviation and Joby Aviation are partners on multiple proposals.
One of the rivals came out ahead, being selected for more programs than the other.
If this were a horse race, Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) and Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) would be pretty much neck and neck down the final stretch. But it's not a horse race: It's instead a race to launch a viable air taxi service using electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft.
Both companies' designs are being evaluated by the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA). Both are planning to launch overseas operations. Both are partnering with heavy hitters in the aviation, ride-hailing, and artificial intelligence (AI) industries, including Nvidia.
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And last week, both got a big boost from the Trump administration -- but one got a bigger prize. Here's how this could tip the playing field.
Image source: Joby Aviation.
The prize
On Monday, March 9 -- which was, ironically, the same day Archer filed a countersuit against Joby in court -- Transportation Secretary Sean Duffy announced that the Department of Transportation, together with the FAA, had selected eight proposals for its new Advanced Air Mobility and eVTOL Integration Pilot Program (eIPP).
The eight proposals were selected from more than 30 that the eIPP received from states and municipalities across the country. Multiple states could collaborate on programs, and the eight winning proposals span 26 states.
More crucially, each proposal identified the project partners that would be providing the technology for their proposals. Both Archer and Joby were winners in that they were each named as partners in multiple projects. But between the two, one came out on top.
Which one won?
The big winner of the eIPP program was Joby over Archer. Here's why.
Almost all of the winning programs named multiple corporate partners. In fact, Joby and Archer were both selected as partners in the following three programs:
- A Port Authority of New York and New Jersey program to bring eVTOL operations to the Manhattan heliport and across New England.
- A Texas Department of Transportation initiative to bring air taxi networks to support regional flights connecting Dallas, Austin, and San Antonio.
- A statewide effort by the Florida Department of Transportation with multiple phases.
Image source: Archer Aviation.
But while those were Archer's only programs, Joby was selected as a partner in two others:
- The Utah Department of Transportation's proposal to test a wide range of next-gen aircraft across several large western states.
- Development of regional operations through the North Carolina Department of Transportation.
In a press release, Joby said that some of the applications for which it was selected include the use of its Superpilot autonomous flight technology in addition to its eVTOL aircraft.
So while both Archer and Joby will benefit from this program, it's clear that Joby is getting more of a lift than Archer. And since the announcement, Joby's stock is trading up 2.9% while Archer's is down 2.2%.
John Bromels has positions in Nvidia. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Nvidia. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.