Stock Market Today, July 20: Archer Aviation Surges 20% on Thunder VTOL Platform Unveiling with Anduril
Today, July 20, 2026, the eVTOL developer jumped 20% after revealing an autonomous platform for commercial and defense use, expanding its addressable market beyond air taxis.
Overview
Archer Aviation (NYSE:ACHR), an eVTOL aircraft developer and urban air mobility operator, closed at $5.31, up 19.59%. Shares jumped after Archer and Anduril unveiled Thunder, a Group 5 autonomous attack rotorcraft. Investors are watching commercial partner announcements and defense demand next. Trading volume reached 95.7M shares, coming in about 125% above its three-month average of 42.6M shares. Archer Aviation IPO'd in 2020 and has fallen 47% since going public.
S&P 500 (SNPINDEX:^GSPC) slipped 0.17% to 7,445, while the Nasdaq Composite (NASDAQINDEX:^IXIC) edged down 0.05% to 25,508. Among aerospace and defense peers focused on electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft development and manufacturing, Joby Aviation closed at $7.47, up 3.32%, and Vertical Aerospace ended at $1.61, up 8.78%.
Details
Archer and promising private defense unicorn Anduril paired to develop a hybrid-electric VTOL platform that the companies believe will usher in the next generation of vertical lift capabilities for both commercial and defense customers. Shane Arnott, the SVP of Maneuver Dominance at Anduril, explained, “The clean-sheet, dual-use platform that we’ve built with Archer truly represents a step change in capability.”
Source
Originally published at www.fool.com.