Joby Aviation (JOBY) suffered a steep weekly decline, with shares dropping 14.3% on Friday to close at $9.55. The electric vertical takeoff and landing (eVTOL) aircraft developer ended the week down nearly 20% from its prior Friday close, as a hotter-than-expected U.S. jobs report reignited fears of higher interest rates, putting pressure on speculative growth stocks.
The sell-off was broad-based across the air mobility sector. Archer Aviation (ACHR) closed at $5.54, losing roughly 13%, while Vertical Aerospace (EVTL) fell about 10% to $2.16. The weakness reflected a broader market rotation away from companies that are years away from generating meaningful profits, as higher discount rates reduce the present value of future earnings.
Joby's stock has declined for four consecutive sessions, sliding from $11.90 on May 29, briefly ticking up on June 1, then falling steadily through Friday. Trading volume surged to approximately 38.1 million shares on Friday, the highest level of the week, signaling heightened investor anxiety.
The catalyst for the sell-off was the Labor Department's report showing the U.S. economy added 172,000 jobs in May, nearly double the Reuters consensus estimate. The data prompted traders to reassess the Federal Reserve's policy path. According to Reuters, the probability of a Fed rate hike by December jumped to 68.4% from 52% the prior evening, though expectations for June remain unchanged.
The broader market also took a hit. The Nasdaq Composite fell 4.18%, the S&P 500 dropped 2.64%, and the Dow Jones Industrial Average lost 1.35%. "After the record run we've seen the last nine weeks in equities, specifically tech and semiconductors, the dam just broke today," Ryan Detrick, chief market strategist at Carson Group, told Reuters, capturing the mood of the day.
Despite the market turbulence, Joby's fundamental story remains intact. The company continues to progress toward commercializing its eVTOL aircraft for passenger service. In May, Joby completed New York City's first point-to-point eVTOL flights, flew its first FAA-conforming aircraft for Type Inspection Authorization, and wrapped up a key FAA audit. The company ended the first quarter with $2.5 billion in cash and short-term investments.
CEO JoeBen Bevirt said in a May 5 release that Joby had "the clearest path we've ever had to beginning passenger operations." However, the market is now questioning how much of that path needs to be funded before revenue materializes. The company's next public engagement is the Electric Skies tour, which will stop at the Dayton Airshow on June 13-14, showcasing a mobile simulator in a city where Joby is expanding its manufacturing footprint.
Risks remain significant. Certification timelines could extend, early commercial flights may scale slowly, cash burn is likely to stay high, and higher interest rates continue to weigh on companies with distant profit horizons. In its recent filings, Joby flagged risks related to launch timing, production, regulatory approvals, capital requirements, supplier dependencies, and uncertainty about the eventual market size.
For Monday's open, the key question is whether Friday's decline represents a broad market washout or a fundamental repricing of what investors are willing to pay for an air-taxi company still transitioning from demonstration flights to paying customers.
