Short Seller Targets Archer Aviation Stock, Extends Wager To 'Tonight Show' Host Jimmy Fallon — 'Reckless' Promotion

Culper Research has announced a new short position against electric vertical take-off and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer Archer Aviation Inc ACHR as the short seller believes the company is misleading investors.

What To Know: Culper Research on Tuesday targeted Archer in a new short report titled, “Archer Aviation (ACHR): When You Can't Earn Airtime in the Sky, Buy it on Late Night Television.”

The short seller believes the company has repeatedly deceived investors by lying about milestones related to the development of its Midnight Edition eVTOL aircraft — which is set for delivery in the coming months, with planned deployment expected later this year, according to Archer.

“Archer's misrepresentations have grown increasingly brazen as it attempts to conceal a far more deep-seated, and – in the Company's very own words – ‘potentially catastrophic’ problem: Midnight's sham transition flight and underlying instability. In our view, Archer's continued promotion of near-term commercialization is not only premature, but reckless,” the short seller said.

Benzinga has reached out to Archer Aviation for comment on the report.

Culper Research said it obtained internal emails, as well as emails between Archers’s flight test team and the city where Archer is testing its aircraft that suggest Archer misled investors about flight testing timelines. The short seller said Archer made investors believe flight tests were happening months before they actually occurred.

The short seller highlighted photos that appeared to show the company’s Midnight aircraft was in a “state of disrepair.” Culper also said it hired investigators that found that the aircraft was “nowhere close to flying.”

The short seller also took issue with the company’s “invited” appearance on Jimmy Fallon's Tonight Show last week following the company’s Olympics sponsorship announcement.

“Our sources suggest, however, Archer paid millions for the airtime, in addition to Fallon's recent appearance at an Archer promotional event in NYC,” Culper said in the short report.

In conjunction with the report, Culper Research publicly extended a $1 million wager to Fallon. The bet involves the Tonight Show host completing a Federal Aviation Administration (FAA)-compliant commercial flight from Orange County to Santa Monica by July 30, 2028.

The short seller went on to highlight potential problems at Archer including the withholding of the exact details of the LA28 Olympic and Paralympic Games partnership, compliance problems with FAA rules, the staging of “fake milestones” and stability issues with its Midnight aircraft, suggesting the timelines the company has provided to investors are misleading.

ACHR Price Action: Archer shares fell more than 3% on the report before bouncing back and recouping some losses. The stock was down 1.19% at $11.26 at the time of publication Tuesday, according to Benzinga Pro.

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Photo: courtesy of Archer Aviation.