Joby and Archer Are Racing to FAA Certification While Burning Hundreds of Millions a Year. Here's the 1 Number That Picks the Winner.
Both companies are preparing for FAA certification, and here's what you need to know about where each company is in the race and why it matters to their business models.
Overview
The race for Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) certification won't determine the long-term winner, because Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) and Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) have vastly different business models that will evolve. However, achieving FAA certification will immediately de-risk the stocks and change the investment narrative from "burning cash in risky development" to "investing cash to scale growth" for both companies. Certification matters, and here's what to look out for in the process.
Given that the FAA won't make a certification decision until each company's electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft has completed aircraft-level "for credit" testing, investors should look for each company to complete this process 100%. This is the process by which FAA pilots conduct or witness extensive test flights of an eVTOL under a Type Inspection Authorization (TIA). Before achieving TIA, companies must build an FAA-conforming eVTOL and test it with their own pilots.
Details
If you are wondering who is ahead, Joby is generally considered ahead because it conducted its first FAA-conforming eVTOL flight in early March. Moreover, CEO JoeBen Bevirt outlined that "We now have five of our electric air taxis in the air, including our first FAA-conforming aircraft" on the recent earnings call.
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.