eVTOL unicorn BETA (BETA.US) rose by 5.88% on its first day of listing, surpassing Archer in market value.

The eVTOL industry is at a critical moment, as BETA Technologies (BETA.US) completed its debut listing on the New York Stock Exchange on November 4, 2025 (Tuesday), with the stock price closing at $36 per share, up 5.88% on the day. Prior to this, the company had set its IPO offering price at $34 per share, higher than the previously estimated range of $27-33. According to the prospectus, the IPO issued a total of 29.9 million shares, raising over $1 billion in actual funds, with a company valuation of approximately $7.4 billion. Reportedly, this valuation surpasses that of one of the eVTOL leaders, Archer Aviation (ACHR.US) ($6.1 billion), and is also more than half of the market value of the industry leader, Joby Aviation (JOBY.US) ($13 billion). This IPO is currently the largest IPO project in the low-altitude economy sector (Joby's market value at the time of IPO was only $4.5 billion), marking a milestone event in the global low-altitude economy, particularly in the eVTOL sector. As a significant participant in the eVTOL sector, BETA's listing process is seen as a key test for whether this emerging industry can obtain certification from the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) of the United States. Currently, the industry is led by companies such as Joby, while supporters of Archer claim that the technology has the potential to alleviate congested air traffic. It is worth noting that in the prospectus, BETA listed Archer as one of its customers for ground support equipment (mainly chargers) and revealed that its chargers have been deployed at 51 locations in the United States. However, from a financial performance perspective, the company is still in its early stages: in the first half of 2025, the net loss widened from $137.1 million in the same period of 2024 to $183.2 million, while revenue doubled, from $7.6 million to $15.6 million. Founded in 2017, BETA's founder and CEO, Kyle Clark, also serves as a pilot. He revealed in an interview on the day of the IPO that the company's aircraft are currently performing "back-end" missions for the U.S. military, and he anticipates obtaining comprehensive FAA commercial operational certification within approximately 30 months. Clark emphasized that the company needs to prove success in production and operations, as well as accumulate sufficient order volume, before there are "basic commercial reasons to enter the public market." The IPO coincided with a government shutdown in the United States that began in early October, causing a shortage of staff at the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC), but BETA chose to "maintain normal operations." In terms of investors, Amazon.com, Inc. (AMZN.US) and GE Aerospace are major shareholders, holding 10.2% and 6.3% of the shares before the IPO, respectively. General Electric Aerospace announced an additional $3 billion investment in September 2025, and Amazon.com, Inc. made its first investment in BETA through its climate pledge fund in 2021, which is part of Amazon.com, Inc.'s "Zero Net Carbon Emissions by 2040" plan. In industry comparisons, eVTOL competitors Joby and Archer saw their stock prices drop by 9% and 6%, respectively, on the day of BETA's listing, although the market values (stock prices) of both companies have nearly tripled over the past year.