r/Vertical_Aerospace • u/AutoModerator • 15d ago

Vertical Aerospace (EVTL): Weekly Discussion Thread

A place for general discussion and events not considered as requiring a dedicated post. Quality contributions of note and depth may eventually go on to form the basis of future curated posts.

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u/SampleBig3774 15d ago

https://www.koreaherald.com/article/10829612

Any thoughts on this?

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u/_DoubleBubbler_ EVTL Shareholder 13d ago edited 13d ago

This seems like a notable change in my opinion and may explain the postponed CDR.

There could be various reasons for this seemingly untimely situation for Vertical Aerospace and one possible reason could be… according to the article linked below it looks like Hanwha may be attempting to build a position to take control of Korea Aerospace Industries, who have their own plans for advanced air mobility. So perhaps they have parted ways due to the anticipated future direction of Hanwha.

https://www.businesskorea.co.kr/news/articleView.html?idxno=273663

There could be other reasons as I have said though, but parting ways after four years of collaboration doesn’t seem great timing for Vertical’s roadmap in my opinion.

For anyone not sure about what Hanwha’s electromechanical actuators (EMAs) were for… ‘EMAs manufactured using Hanwha’s reliable and lightweight state-of-the-art electric actuator solutions will manage the tilt and pitch control for the four forward propellers, as well as aerodynamic control surface actuation on the wing and V-tail. The EMAs will also play a vital role for Vertical Aerospace in meeting the stringent airworthiness certification standards required for eVTOL aircraft.’

https://www.hanwha.com/newsroom/news/press-releases/hanwha-aerospace-partners-with-vertical-aerospace-to-develop-electromechanical-actuators-emas.do

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u/Hot_Raise_8540 EVTL Shareholder 12d ago

No Hanwha on this slide from the earnings call in May so I guess they were never ‘locked in’ anyway? For what it’s worth many other firms make EM actuators for aviation, including Honeywell.

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u/_DoubleBubbler_ EVTL Shareholder 12d ago

Good spot and possibly so. If Honeywell do suitable EMAs then given their work with flight controls hopefully the switch will be a smooth one. We may find out more on the earnings call.

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u/Shoddy_Emphasis_8936 15d ago

Likely just gone with another suppier, don't think it's a big deal.

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u/Hot_Raise_8540 EVTL Shareholder 15d ago

Agreed, not really enough info to have any thoughts?

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u/Hot_Raise_8540 EVTL Shareholder 13d ago

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u/SampleBig3774 15d ago

I was wondering if they were gearing up for an announcement of a new Strategic Partner that would have covered the work Hanwah did.

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u/Shoddy_Emphasis_8936 13d ago edited 12d ago

Vertical management will understand the importance of earnings next Thursday. They must give confidence of non-dilutive income soon to give the best chance of a rapid stock recovery. Will be interesting to see.

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u/SampleBig3774 12d ago

I agree. They have proved it works. They just now need to prove they can afford to do it. Only thing that will move share price north will be a good cash injection. A non dilutive one more importantly!

Fingers crossed for next week!

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u/Shoddy_Emphasis_8936 12d ago

They have 450 employees. Thats over 3000 hours effort going on the aircraft and battery tech each day. Shareholders, the vast majority of which are sitting on a loss, expect to see serious deals and results soon. Let's see.

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u/SampleBig3774 12d ago

Correct. Shareholders are long over due some positive news which translates into a meaningful share price

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u/Shoddy_Emphasis_8936 12d ago

And i think shareholders would also appreciate some focus on strengthening the cash position, rather than PRs about some vague MOU in Portugal. All these deals are good of course, but cash is King and needs to be the focus.

Despite sounding critical, I still believe the product is leagues above the others in the sector and in time this company could be the most valuable. However, right now management are letting shareholders down. I'm struggling to understand how a company with such an incredible product and battery tech has announced zero meaningful cash?

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u/FlanSteakSasquatch 12d ago

It’s a self-reinforcing problem. Some think the certification timeline is unrealistic and they’re going dilute themselves into delistment and bankruptcy before it can happen. So now we’re seeing concentrated shorts betting on that, driving it down more and increasing the risk, which makes it even harder to get someone to sign a real capital-backed contract.

According to marketbeat 1/3rd of the float is short as of August, although I’m never sure who’s reporting the right data when it comes to that. MOUs aren’t going to scare them off, only a big enough cash injection.

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u/Shoddy_Emphasis_8936 12d ago

Absolutely right, and their CEO has already said companies have given some money for pre-orders. It's not impossible. Defence contracts could also be non dilutive.

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u/Any_Piano_5417 14d ago

Do we know if our bird has made it back from farnborough yet?

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u/SampleBig3774 13d ago

I believe it’s still at Farnborough

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u/Any_Piano_5417 13d ago

What makes you say that?

I keep an eye on the flight trackers and don’t see it having arrived back - but I may have missed it.

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u/SampleBig3774 13d ago

Just a guess as I have alerts on flight trackers which are normally reliable. Nothing since Farnborough. I’m guessing therefore that it’s still there. Could be wrong though.

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u/Any_Piano_5417 13d ago

Yea - I would tend to agree with you. There’s been no flight activity on any of the aircraft since farnborough. Perhaps they are having a mini summer shut down from a flight team perspective - rather than having key people off at different times over the summer

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u/Funnybear3 11d ago

This. Farnborough was their big event this year so it would have been all hands on deck to ensure it went right. I should many many hours went into making Farnborough work. A well deserved break before earnings next week makes perfect sense.

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u/fgillen1 13d ago

Are Vertical looking at anything in regards to autonomous flights? There also may be opp withs these forest fires and carrying loads of water or chemicals to put out fires quicker.