We recently published a list of Why These Defense Stocks Are Declining This Week. In this article, we will take a look at where Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR) stands against other stocks that are declining this week.
Defense stocks across the world are witnessing an unprecedented bull run and soaring to new heights as European governments unlock billions to supercharge their militaries. Stocks in Europe have rallied this year, with several companies in the sector registering double-digit returns. Asian contractors in South Korea and India are also benefiting from the splurge.
READ ALSO: 10 Best Performing Defense Stocks So Far in 2025 and 13 Best Defense Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires.
However, defense stocks in the US have struggled this year due to concerns about government budget cuts. President Trump has hinted at significantly reducing future military spending if things settle down with China and Russia. The creation of DOGE has also reshaped investors’ views of the industry.
Despite a shaky start to 2025, analysts at UBS are optimistic about the sector as they believe the downside is shrinking. Here is what the firm recently stated:
“Consensus estimates have moved higher since the election despite the 40% sell-off. The downside potential seems increasingly smaller. We believe that the current environment is markedly different from Sequestration and do not believe a similar outcome is likely.”
Citi analyst Jason Gursky, in a note to clients on March 5, also urged investors about this being the right time to buy American defense stocks. While the analyst acknowledged that the world may be moving toward a multi-polar order, he argued that it was not any less dangerous to decrease the need to acquire tools of deterrence.
Gursky also stated that as long as the global threat environment remains and the United States maintains its leadership role, regardless of whether it is as a sole superpower or as a power in a multipolar world order, defense spending is expected to remain robust, which would benefit stocks in the sector.
With that said, let’s now head over to the list of defense stocks that are declining this week. Please note that the stocks listed are based on one week’s performance. Our analysis does not reflect the prospects of the companies. Their share prices could go high or low in the future, depending on external market conditions, industry-specific challenges, and the company’s capabilities. Additional research and caution are advised before making investment decisions.
A technician assembling an electric aircraft, highlighting the company’s manufacturing capabilities.
Methodology
For this article, we went through screeners to see how stocks in the aerospace and defense industry performed over the past week (March 24-28). From there, we picked the top 10 defense stocks with the highest percentage decline in share price during this period. All data is as of the close of business on Friday, March 28, 2025.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter’s strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR)
Weekly Decline: -16.74%
Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR) is an aerospace company, headquartered in San Jose, California, engaged in the development of eVTOL aircraft. It is also working on a hybrid aircraft platform for the defense market.
The stock surged over the past two weeks after Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR) announced it had formed a strategic partnership with Palantir Technologies to build the next-gen aviation software that utilizes artificial intelligence to improve air traffic control, route planning, and movement control.
On March 27, Ethiopian Airlines signed an agreement with Archer Aviation Inc. (NYSE:ACHR) to deploy a fleet of Midnight aircraft under the ‘Launch Edition’ program, valued at $30 million. Despite the positive development, shares fell sharply last week, likely due to a market correction to offset the gains made earlier this month.
Overall, ACHR ranks 2nd among the defense stocks that are declining this week. While we acknowledge the potential of defense companies, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than ACHR but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
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Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
