Archer stock jumps as Boeing offloads air taxi subsidiaries in exchange for stake

Archer stock jumps as Boeing offloads air taxi subsidiaries in exchange for stake

Pras Subramanian · Senior Reporter

Mon, August 10, 2026 at 9:07 PM GMT+3 2 min read

Archer (ACHR) stock jumped on Monday after the air-taxi maker agreed to buy three of Boeing's (BA) aerospace subsidiaries, handing the planemaker an equity stake in return for cash.

Under the agreements, Archer will acquire Boeing's Wisk Aero, the autonomous eVTOL developer; SkyGrid, an air traffic management software firm; and Insitu, a defense drone maker.

Boeing will be paid mostly in Archer stock, receiving newly issued stock equal to 19.75% of Archer's shares outstanding just before closing, leaving it with an approximate 16.5% stake once the deal is done.

(ACHR )

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Boeing also agreed to invest up to $55 million in an upcoming Archer funding round and take warrants to eventually buy up to $200 million of stock down, positioning the planemaker as one of Archer's largest shareholders.

The structure lets Boeing offload its advanced-air-mobility bets and keep strategic exposure, as it directs its capital back into its core commercial and defense businesses. Boeing also retains access to Wisk's core autonomous flight technology for its own current and future aircraft.

The most interesting component is Insitu. Boeing notes the uncrewed aircraft systems maker is profitable and generates over $200 million in annual revenue, with operations across 35 nations and more than 3,500 drones built for intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance missions.

That gives Archer an actual revenue-generating defense business. Archer has yet to certify its Midnight air taxi for commercial passenger service.

Wisk is the most well-known of the subsidiaries. It has designed, built, and flown six generations of eVTOL aircraft over 16 years, logging more than 1,700 flight tests.

Buying Wisk also folds a former rival into Archer's portfolio. The two companies spent years locked in a trade-secrets fight; Wisk sued Archer in 2021 alleging Archer stole its designs, before settling in 2023 in a deal that saw Archer pay Wisk and Boeing take a near-20% stake in Archer.

"This transaction is a win-win for Boeing and Archer," said Brian Yutko, Boeing vice president of Commercial Airplanes Product Development, adding it would let the three businesses "accelerate capability development and time to market."

The deal comes as the eVTOL race widens. Rival Joby Aviation (JOBY) recently struck a deal with Travis Kalanick's Atoms to build out a US network of "vertiports," betting that landing pads and ground infrastructure will be a crucial part of the build-out.

Pras Subramanian is Lead Transportation Reporter for Yahoo Finance. You can follow him on X and on Instagram.

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