Joby Aviation Stock Climbs 6% On White House eVTOL Pilot Program Entry, Retail Chatter Spikes

Joby Aviation (JOBY) shares jumped over 6% in early trading, and the ticker saw a 44% increase in retail user message count in the last 24 hours on Stocktwits as of Monday morning after the company announced its intention to participate in the White House Electric Vertical Takeoff and Landing (eVTOL) Integration Pilot Program (eIPP) last week.

On Friday, Joby noted that the eIPP is designed to allow mature aircraft designs to demonstrate eVTOL use cases, such as passenger transportation, cargo delivery, and emergency response, ahead of achieving type certification. 

Retail sentiment on Joby improved to ‘extremely bullish’ from ‘bullish’ territory a day ago, with message volumes at ‘high’ levels, according to data from Stocktwits.

Joby noted that it was “well-positioned” for the pilot program as it is also in the late Stages of Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) Certification. The company expects to fly the first of its five FAA-conforming aircraft this year and to begin flight testing with FAA pilots onboard early next year.

The company also announced plans to double its production capacity to up to 24 aircraft per year, spanning a total of 435,000 square feet. In Dayton, Ohio, Joby is ramping up manufacturing facilities in support of large-scale aircraft production, the company said.

Last week, Joby and Uber Technologies (UBER) announced plans to integrate Blade’s air mobility services into the Uber app as soon as next year. Joby stated that Blade’s air mobility services are delivered via a network of landing points, each with dedicated passenger lounges.

A bullish user noted that the stock could hit $50 by December.

Shares of Joby have declined 2% this year and have fallen over 35% in the last 12 months.

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