Barclays upgraded Archer Aviation to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’.

  • Barclays upgraded Archer Aviation and raised its price target to $8, implying 69% upside.
  • The move follows ARK Invest’s purchases of more than 2.56 million Archer shares and an additional 149,000 shares on Thursday. 
  • Archer Aviation’s planned acquisition of three Boeing businesses could expand its presence in defense, drones and autonomous flight technology.

Archer Aviation (ACHR) stock gained overnight after Barclays turned bullish on the electric air-taxi maker, upgrading the stock to ‘Overweight’ from ‘Equal Weight’. Growing defense ambitions, a Boeing-related acquisition and fresh buying by Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest are drawing investor attention.  

Archer Aviation stock traded nearly 2% higher overnight, heading into Friday. 

Industrial Transformation Creates Opportunities For Archer Aviation 

Barclays analyst Anthony Valentini upgraded Archer Aviation and raised his price target to $8 from $4.50, implying 69% upside from the stock’s last close. 

Barclays expressed optimism about the broader U.S. aerospace and defense landscape, describing the country as being in the "early innings of a modern day industrial revolution." The firm sees potential across several areas, including aerospace manufacturing, defense innovation and aftermarket services.

The upgrade comes days after Cathie Wood’s ARK Invest bought more than 2.56 million Archer Aviation shares and 753,000 Joby Aviation shares, investing heavily in electric air-taxi companies. ARK purchased about $11.9 million worth of Archer shares. On Thursday, ARK Invest added another 149,000 Archer shares. 

Archer’s Defense Bet Gains Attention 

Archer’s agreement to acquire three Boeing businesses to expand into defense, drones and autonomous flight technology has grabbed investor attention. 

The deal would give Archer access to advanced drone, self-flying aircraft, and air-traffic technologies, helping it expand beyond air taxis into commercial aviation and defense. 

Wisk Aero develops electric aircraft that take off and land vertically, SkyGrid builds technology to manage self-flying aircraft safely, and Insitu makes unmanned aircraft for surveillance and military use. Together, the three businesses have nearly 2 million flight hours of experience, providing valuable data and technology to help Archer improve its ZEE AI platform, which uses information about lighting, air traffic, weather, terrain, and aircraft to make flights safer and more efficient. 

What ACHR Retail Traders Are Saying 

On Stocktwits, retail sentiment around the stock improved to ‘bullish’ from ‘neutral’ in the past 24 hours. 

A user said, “ $200 million in annual revenue, Wisk adds autonomous eVTOL technology, SkyGrid adds airspace-management software, and Boeing will become a strategic shareholder and technology partner.”

Another user said, “Archer is also making meaningful progress internationally. In the UAE, regulators have moved Midnight into a Restricted Type Certificate pathway, providing a streamlined route to limited commercial operations. That makes the UAE an important early market for Archer's international expansion.” 

 “But perhaps the biggest reason Archer could surprise investors is what is happening outside Midnight. Its partnership with Anduril has produced a new autonomous hybrid VTOL platform with both commercial and defense variants, while Archer has introduced ZEE, an AI model designed specifically for aviation.”

ACHR stock has cratered over 37% year-to-date.

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