Forget This Trump eVTOL Darling: A Diversified Defense Contractor Is the Smarter Long‑Term Holding
Key Points
Vertical Aerospace is making progress with its VX4 eVTOL aircraft -- but is still years away from commercialization.
RTX Corp. is profitable now, and generating billions of dollars of free cash flow already.
On Nov. 4, 2024, the day before President Donald Trump was reelected as the 47th U.S. President, Vertical Aerospace (NYSE: EVTL) closed at $4.31 per share. A few weeks later, a tidal wave of buying nearly quadrupled the stock to an all-time high of $15.50 per share.
But it's been pretty much downhill for Vertical Aerospace ever since.
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President Trump loves drones
The initial enthusiasm was understandable. President Trump, after all, has been a big backer of the U.S. drone industry. In June 2025, the president signed an executive order promising to support the industry to "enhance United States productivity, create high-skilled jobs, and [reshape] the future of aviation." With help from the White House, drone testing at the FAA would be accelerated, drone production expanded, and commercial drone exports supported internationally. More recently, the Department of Defense has added additional support in the form of a multibillion-dollar program to create "drone dominance" in military drones as well.
All of which is great news for U.S. drone companies -- but none of this is helping U.K.-based Vertical Aerospace very much.
Europe is warming to the idea as well
Mind you, it's not for lack of trying, or for want of progress. Just earlier this month, Vertical's VX4 electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL) conducted a successful flight test in which it transitioned from takeoff (eight propellers pointing up) to horizontal flight (four propellers facing forward, the remainder stowed). The British Civil Aviation Authority oversaw the flight in cooperation with the European Union Aviation Safety Agency, helping to advance VX4 toward certification in both the U.K. and the E.U.
More test flights are still necessary, but Vertical is on track to achieve certification in both these regions by the end of 2028.
Vertical Aerospace sees the runway
That might be soon enough. After 10 years in business, Vertical Aerospace still has no revenue and remains at least two years away from having a commercial product that can generate revenue. The good news is that it has $314 million in the bank, is burning cash at the rate of $112 million a year (according to data from S&P Global Market Intelligence), and therefore has sufficient cash to get it through certification -- if everything goes as planned.
The bad news is that things may not go as planned, and Vertical may need more cash in that case. To ensure against this eventuality, Vertical recently announced it's taking on $300 million in new debt (in the form of convertible preferred shares and convertible debt) and taking out a line of credit for another $500 million.
The bad news is that Vertical Aerospace is hinting that it may need all this extra cash -- and that if and when the convertible shares and debt are converted to common stock, they'd probably dilute existing shareholders by as much as 50%.
RTX Corp.: A safer choice
Don't get me wrong: Everything could still work out just fine for Vertical Aerospace if it gets its eVTOL certified in 2028 as planned, if it can find a market for the plane, and if it can quickly scale up production to supply that market without burning much more cash than it's already burning.
But wouldn't you rather invest in an aerospace stock with fewer "ifs"?
Consider RTX Corp. (NYSE: RTX), for example, a major defense contractor that reported earnings just last week. In contrast to the uncertainty about Vertical Aerospace ever generating revenue or profit, we know that RTX generated $22.1 billion in sales in the first quarter of 2026 alone -- and grew sales 9% year over year.
Sales at the company's Collins Aerospace parts division rose a steady 5%, while the larger Pratt & Whitney engines business grew sales 11%. Raytheon, the core defense business that used to bear the company's entire name, grew by 10%. Profits for the quarter totaled $2.1 billion ($1.51 per share), and are rising 3 times as fast as sales growth -- 32% year over year -- leading RTX to raise guidance for both sales and earnings this year.
And whereas Vertical Aerospace is burning cash today, and expects to continue burning cash for years, RTX generated positive free cash flow of $1.3 billion in Q1 -- up 65% year over year -- lending confidence that the company will be able to continue paying its respectable 1.6% dividend yield.
Investing in a mature aerospace and defense conglomerate like RTX may not offer the blue-sky potential of an eVTOL start-up like Vertical Aerospace, but, as these numbers demonstrate, it also carries a significantly lower risk of going bust.
Rich Smith has no position in any of the stocks mentioned. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends RTX. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.