Archer Aviation Inc ( ACHR ) shares are trading lower Friday afternoon after the company announced it has completed a capital raise of $850 million.

What To Know: The company says the capital raise comes amid the White House’s recent executive order to establish an eVTOL Integration Pilot Program. This initiative aims to accelerate the deployment of electric vertical takeoff and landing aircraft within the United States.

Archer plans to work closely with the Department of Transportation and the Federal Aviation Administration to integrate this program with its own expansion plans. The company is the Official Air Taxi Provider for the LA 28 Olympic Games and Team USA.

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CEO Adam Goldstein hailed the executive order as a “seminal moment,” emphasizing that Archer now possesses the strongest balance sheet in the sector. The company’s pro forma liquidity now stands at approximately $2 billion.

This new capital, raised through the sale of 85 million shares at $10.00 each, will fund general corporate purposes, the build-out of commercial infrastructure and the development of an AI-based aviation software platform. Next week, Archer says the company will showcase its “Midnight” aircraft at the Paris Air Show.

Price Action: According to data from Benzinga Pro, ACHR stock is trading lower by 14.8% at $9.99 Friday afternoon. The session’s volume was approximately 87 million million shares, significantly above its 100-day average of 28.52 million. Short interest in the stock stands at 14.16% of the float.

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How To Buy ACHR Stock

Besides going to a brokerage platform to purchase a share – or fractional share – of stock, you can also gain access to shares either by buying an exchange traded fund (ETF) that holds the stock itself, or by allocating yourself to a strategy in your 401(k) that would seek to acquire shares in a mutual fund or other instrument.

For example, in Archer Aviation’s case, it is in the Industrials sector. An ETF will likely hold shares in many liquid and large companies that help track that sector, allowing an investor to gain exposure to the trends within that segment.

According to data from Benzinga Pro, ACHR has a 52-week high of $13.92 and a 52-week low of $2.82.

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