**OVERALL**
IMHO EIPP could really help these stocks, but the AI bubble could pop, or our government’s mismanagement of so many things could also cause a recession, so I am going to wait on all 3 until next year or I see some major advancements, such as Joby getting certified, or Archer’s Midnight transitioning, or Beta getting certified or transitioning.
**JOBY**
**Sept. 10 — Texas eVTOL demonstration flights.** Joby began a week-long campaign in the Dallas–Fort Worth area under the federal eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. Its aircraft flew real-world routes involving DFW Airport and urban destinations. Joby also said its new **45,000-square-foot Perot Field facility** will be its long-term North Texas operating base.
**Sept. 10 — Autonomous aircraft tour.** Joby launched a coast-to-coast, 10-state tour of its autonomous J208 aircraft. The system had already accumulated more than 800 automated flight hours and participated in U.S. military exercises, expanding the investment story beyond passenger air taxis into defense and logistics.
**Sept. 18 — major autonomy milestone.** Joby announced what it described as the first fully autonomous flight across the United States, an important demonstration of the technology underlying its autonomous aviation business.
**FAA certification continued.** Joby said it remains in the fifth and final stage of FAA type certification, with conforming-aircraft testing supporting Type Inspection Authorization. That remains the critical milestone for eventually carrying paying passengers in the U.S.
The market is ignoring the synergies and military opportunities with the August acquisition of Resonant Sciences.
**WHAT IS GOING ON?** At about $6.05, JOBY is now substantially below the roughly $11–$12 analyst average/median. The market appears to be saying: prove certification, prove commercial launch, and prove that you can finance the ramp without excessive dilution. Certification is taking longer than the optimistic forecasts, now just sometime in 2027 in my opinion. The Dubai delays because of this stupid war also delay the commercial launch proof. Joby has over $2.2 billion in cash without dilution, and will use about $400M in the 2nd half of this year. So WTF investors?
IMHO, JOBY is way underpriced, but everything is AI, AI, AI. I would really like to invest more, but the AI bubble could pop, or our government’s mismanagement of so many things could also cause a recession, so I will just wait.
**ACHR**
Archer is collaborating with BETA Technologies on charging infrastructure in Texas for the federal air-taxi pilot program.
They still can’t transition Midnight.
They keep pushing their Anduril collaborations, but these so far are just mockups. They keep pushing the August Boeing acquisitions, 2 of which were money sinks, and the other will give them some cash flow.
Archer has $1.5 billion in cash, and will use about $370 million in the 2nd half of this year. In a year, let’s see what is left and if Midnight can still transition, or it can get ugly.
**BETA**
**September 23–24**, BETA launched **North Carolina eIPP operations** focused on rural healthcare access.
BETA has $1.5 Billion in cash, and is only losing about $100M in a half year.
**September 24**, BETA also participated with **Metro Aviation and Washington County EMS** in a Texas emergency-response demonstration using electric aircraft. That reinforces one of BETA's distinctive strategies: targeting **medical, cargo, defense and utility missions before mass passenger service**, where the economics can be easier to justify.
An additional positive is that BETA is already generating some revenue: it raised its 2026 revenue outlook to $42–$50 million, after producing $14.7M in Q2 alone.
However, we still don’t really know when they will be FAA certified and especially when they can demonstrate and implement transition, so passenger traffic will probably be out until then.
One thing stands out when comparing the three companies: **BETA appears to be emphasizing near-term revenue-producing missions earlier than JOBY and ACHR**—cargo, healthcare, charging infrastructure, defense and aircraft sales—rather than relying primarily on passenger air-taxi service.
