Archer Aviation (ACHR -10.84%) stock is seeing a big pullback in Monday's trading. The company's share price was down 11% as of 3:45 p.m. ET despite the S&P 500 being up 0.2% and the Nasdaq Composite being up 0.4% at the same point in the day's trading.
Archer Aviation's valuation is being pressured by a pair of bearish catalysts today. The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft specialist went public through a merger with a special purpose acquisition company (SPAC) in 2021, but some investors are pursuing legal claims that the merger's architects made incorrect claims about the launch timeline for one of Archer's prototypes.
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Adding another valuation pressure, Stellantis announced that it was giving up on developing a hydrogen-powered car after posting a disappointing quarterly report. Stellantis is one of Archer's most important financial backers, and some investors are worried that the company will reduce its support for the eVTOL specialist.
Is Archer Aviation stock a buy right now?
Archer has huge growth opportunities in both the private- and public-sector markets for eVTOLS, but it's still a pre-revenue company. As a result, the stock is prone to high levels of volatility based on news items and shifts in broader-market sentiment. The company's share price has seen some big swings this year, but it's still up roughly 21% year to date after today's sell-off.
While Archer stock could continue to be highly volatile in the near term, the bearish catalysts pushing the stock lower today are unlikely to be defining factors in the company's long-term performance outlook. Even in an unfavorable scenario, legal claims related to the eVTOL specialist's SPAC merger would likely be resolved for a sum that's relatively modest compared to its current valuation. Meanwhile, there's no real indication that Stellantis intends to pull investment support from the company. Archer Aviation stock continues to be a high-risk, high-reward investment that's prone to big swings, but today's news doesn't break the bull case for the stock.
