Archer Aviation (ACHR) Risk Analysis

Failure to adequately protect our intellectual property rights could result in our competitors offering similar products or services, potentially resulting in the loss of some of our competitive advantage and a decrease in our revenue, which could adversely affect our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results. Our success depends, at least in part, on our ability to protect our key technology and intellectual property. To accomplish this, we will rely on a combination of patents, trade secrets (including know-how), employee and third-party non-disclosure agreements, copyrights, trademarks, intellectual property licenses and other contractual rights to establish and protect our rights in our technology. The protection of our intellectual property rights will be important to our future business opportunities. However, the measures we take to protect our intellectual property from unauthorized use by others may not be effective for various reasons, including the following: - any patent applications we submit may not result in the issuance of patents (and patents have not yet issued to us based on our pending applications);- the scope of our patents that may subsequently issue may not be broad enough to protect our proprietary rights;- our issued patents may be challenged or invalidated by third parties;- our employees or business partners may breach their confidentiality, non-disclosure and non-use obligations to us;- third parties may independently develop technologies that are the same or similar to ours;- the costs associated with enforcing patents, confidentiality and invention agreements or other intellectual property rights may make enforcement impracticable; and - current and future competitors may circumvent or otherwise design around our patents. Patent, trademark, copyright and trade secret laws vary throughout the world. The laws in some foreign countries do not protect intellectual property rights to the same extent as the laws of the United States. Furthermore, policing the unauthorized use of our intellectual property rights in foreign jurisdictions may be difficult. Therefore, our intellectual property rights may not be as strong or as easily enforced outside of the United States. Also, while we have registered and applied for trademarks in an effort to protect our investment in our brand and goodwill with customers, competitors may challenge the validity of those trademarks and other brand names in which we have invested. Such challenges can be expensive and may adversely affect our ability to maintain the goodwill gained in connection with a particular trademark. To the extent we expand our international activities, our exposure to unauthorized use of our technologies and proprietary information may increase. We may also fail to detect unauthorized use of our intellectual property, or be required to expend significant resources to monitor and protect our intellectual property rights, including engaging in litigation, which may be costly, time-consuming, and divert the attention of management and resources, and may not ultimately be successful. If we fail to meaningfully establish, maintain, protect and enforce our intellectual property rights internationally, our business, financial condition and results of operations could be adversely affected.

We are at risk for interruptions, outages and breaches of our: (a) operational systems, including business, financial, accounting, product development, data processing or production processes, owned by us or our third-party vendors or suppliers; (b) facility security systems, owned by us or our third-party vendors or suppliers; (c) aircraft technology, including powertrain and avionics and flight control software, owned by us or our third-party vendors or suppliers; (d) the integrated software in our aircraft; or (e) customer data that we process or our third-party vendors or suppliers process on our behalf. Such incidents could: disrupt our operational systems; result in loss of intellectual property, trade secrets or other proprietary or competitively sensitive information; compromise certain information of customers, employees, suppliers, or others; jeopardize the security of our facilities; or affect the performance of in-product technology and the integrated software in our aircraft. We plan to collect, store, transmit and otherwise process data from our aircraft, our customers, our employees and others as part of our business and operations, which may include personal information or confidential or proprietary information. We also work with partners and third-party service providers or vendors that collect, store and process such data on our behalf and in connection with our aircraft. There can be no assurance that any security measures that we or our third-party service providers or vendors have implemented will be effective against current or future security threats. If a compromise of data were to occur, we may become liable under our contracts with other parties and under applicable law for damages and incur penalties and other costs to respond to, investigate and remedy such an incident. Our systems, networks and physical facilities could be breached, or personal information could otherwise be compromised due to employee error or malfeasance, if, for example, third parties attempt to fraudulently induce our employees or our customers to disclose information or usernames and/or passwords. Third parties may also exploit vulnerabilities in, or obtain unauthorized access to, platforms, systems, networks and/or physical facilities utilized by our third-party service providers and vendors. We plan to include avionics and flight control software services and functionality that utilize data connectivity to monitor aircraft performance and to enhance safety and enable cost-saving preventative maintenance. The availability and effectiveness of our services depend on the continued operation of information technology and communications systems. Our systems will be vulnerable to damage or interruption from, among others, physical theft, fire, terrorist attacks, natural disasters, power loss, war, telecommunications failures, viruses, worms, trojan horses, distributed denial or degradation of service attacks, ransomware, social engineering schemes, insider theft or misuse or other attempts to harm our systems. We intend to use our avionics and flight control software and functionality to log information about each aircraft's use in order to aid us in aircraft diagnostics and servicing. Our customers may object to the use of this data, which may increase our vehicle maintenance costs and harm our business prospects. Our aircraft contain complex information technology systems and built-in data connectivity to share aircraft data with ground operations infrastructure. We plan to design, implement and test security measures intended to prevent unauthorized access to our information technology networks, our aircraft and related systems. However, hackers may attempt to gain unauthorized access to modify, alter and use such networks, aircraft and systems to gain control of or to change our aircraft's functionality, performance characteristics, or to gain access to data stored in or generated by the aircraft. A significant breach of our third-party service providers' or vendors' or our own network security and systems could have serious negative consequences for our business and future prospects, including possible fines, penalties and damages, reduced customer demand for our aircraft or urban aerial ride sharing services and harm to our reputation and brand. There are inherent risks associated with developing, improving, expanding and updating our current systems, such as the disruption of our data management, procurement, production execution, finance, supply chain and sales and service processes. These risks may affect our ability to manage our data and inventory, to procure parts or supplies or to manufacture, deploy, deliver and service our aircraft, to adequately protect our intellectual property or achieve and maintain compliance with, or to realize available benefits under, applicable laws, regulations and contracts. We cannot be sure that these systems upon which we rely, including those of our third-party vendors or suppliers, will be effectively implemented, maintained or expanded as planned. If we do not successfully implement, maintain or expand these systems as planned, our operations may be disrupted and our ability to accurately and timely report our financial results could be impaired. Moreover, our proprietary information or intellectual property could be compromised or misappropriated, and our reputation may be adversely affected. If these systems do not operate as we expect them to, we may be required to expend significant resources to make corrections or find alternative sources for performing these functions. Techniques used to obtain unauthorized access or sabotage technology systems change frequently and generally are not identified until they are launched against a target, and cybersecurity threats continue to evolve and are difficult to predict due to advances in the technological capabilities of threat actors and the new and sophisticated methods used by criminals, including phishing, social engineering or other illicit acts. We may be unable to anticipate these techniques or to implement adequate preventative measures. Threat actors, nation-states, and nation-state-supported actors now engage, and are expected to continue to engage, in cyber-attacks, including for geopolitical reasons and in connection with military conflicts and operations. During times of war and other major conflicts, we and our third-party vendors or suppliers may be vulnerable to heightened risk of these attacks. The landscape of laws, regulations, and industry standards related to cybersecurity is evolving globally. We may be subject to increased compliance burdens by regulators and customers with respect to our aircraft, as well as additional costs to oversee and monitor security risks. Most jurisdictions have enacted laws mandating companies to inform individuals, stockholders, regulatory authorities, and others of security breaches. In addition, certain of our customer agreements may require us to promptly report security breaches involving their data on our systems or those of subcontractors processing such data on our behalf. These mandatory disclosures can be costly, harm our reputation, erode customer trust, and require significant resources to mitigate issues stemming from actual or perceived security breaches. While we currently maintain cybersecurity insurance, our insurance may be insufficient or may not cover all liabilities we could incur. The successful assertion of one or more large claims against us that exceeds our available cybersecurity insurance coverage, or results in changes to our insurance policies (including premium increases or the imposition of large deductible or co-insurance requirements), could have an adverse effect on our business. In addition, we cannot be sure that our existing cybersecurity insurance coverage will continue to be available on acceptable terms or that our insurers will not deny coverage as to any future claim.

The operation of aircraft is subject to various risks, and demand for air transportation, including our UAM offerings and defense program, has and may in the future be impacted by accidents or other safety issues regardless of whether such accidents or issues involve our eVTOL aircraft or third-party eVTOL aircraft. Air transportation hazards, such as adverse weather conditions and fire and mechanical failures, may result in death or injury to personnel and passengers, which could impact client or passenger confidence in a particular aircraft type or the air transportation services industry as a whole and could lead to a reduction in passenger volume, particularly if such accidents or disasters were due to a safety fault. Safety statistics for air travel are reported by multiple parties, including the DOT and National Transportation Safety Board, and are often separated into categories of transportation. Because our UAM offerings and defense program may include a variety of transportation methods, fliers may have a hard time determining how safe eVTOL aircraft and UAM services are and their confidence in eVTOL aircraft and UAM may be impacted by, among other things, the classification of accidents in ways that reflect poorly on eVTOL aircraft and UAM services, including the transportation methods UAM services utilize. We believe that safety and reliability are two of the primary attributes our potential customers consider when selecting air transportation services. Any failure by us to maintain standards of safety and reliability that are satisfactory to fliers could adversely impact our ability to attract and retain customers. We are at risk of adverse publicity stemming from any public incident involving us, our people or our brand. Such an incident could involve the actual or alleged behavior of our employees, contractors, or partners. Further, if our eVTOL aircraft, whether operated by us or a third party, were to be involved in a public incident, accident, catastrophe or regulatory enforcement action, we could be exposed to significant reputational harm and potential legal liability. The insurance we carry may be inapplicable or inadequate to cover any such incident, accident, catastrophe or action. In the event that our insurance is inapplicable or inadequate, we may be forced to bear substantial losses from an incident or accident. In addition, any such incident, accident, catastrophe or action involving our eVTOL aircraft or eVTOL aircraft generally could create an adverse public perception, which could harm our reputation, result in air travelers being reluctant to use our services, and adversely impact our business, results of operations and financial condition. If we or one of our third-party aircraft operators were to suffer an accident or lose the ability to fly certain aircraft due to safety concerns or investigations, we or such operators may be required to cancel or delay certain flights until replacement aircraft and personnel are obtained. Our operations may also be negatively impacted by accidents or other safety-related events or investigations that occur in or near the take-off and landing infrastructure we plan to utilize for our UAM services. For example, if an accident were to occur at a heliport we rely on for certain flights in the future (assuming we are granted government operating authority to do so), we may be unable to fly into or out of that heliport until the accident has been cleared, any damage to the facilities have been repaired and any insurance, regulatory or other investigations have been completed. Additionally, the battery packs in our aircraft are expected to use lithium-ion cells. On rare occasions, lithium-ion cells can rapidly release the energy they contain by venting smoke and flames in a manner that can ignite nearby materials as well as other lithium-ion cells. While we have taken measures to enhance the safety of our electric propulsion system, a field or testing failure of our aircraft could occur in the future, which could subject us to lawsuits, product recalls, or redesign efforts, any of which would be time-consuming and expensive. Also, negative public perceptions regarding the suitability of lithium-ion cells for aerospace applications or any future incident involving lithium-ion cells such as an aircraft or other fire, even if such incident does not involve our aircraft, could seriously harm our business. From time to time, we are expected to store varying amounts of lithium-ion cells at our facilities. In addition, our manufacturing partners and suppliers are expected to store a significant number of lithium-ion cells at their facilities. Any mishandling of battery cells may cause disruption to the operation of our facilities or our manufacturers. A safety issue or fire related to the cells could disrupt operations or cause manufacturing delays. Such damage or injury could lead to adverse publicity and potentially a safety recall. Moreover, any such failure of a competitor's eVTOL aircraft may cause indirect adverse publicity for us and our aircraft. Such adverse publicity could negatively affect our brand and harm our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results.

Our eVTOL aircraft and the operation of our UAM and other services will be subject to substantial regulation in the jurisdictions in which we intend our eVTOL aircraft to operate. We expect to incur significant costs in complying with these regulations. Regulations related to the eVTOL industry, including aircraft certification, production certification, passenger operation, flight operation, airspace operation, security regulation and infrastructure regulation are currently evolving, and we face risks associated with the development and evolution of these regulations. For example, in October 2024, the FAA published the operational regulations, or SFAR, for eVTOL aircraft. Any other regulatory changes or revisions could delay our ability to obtain type certification, and could delay our ability to launch our UAM and other services. Further, our aircraft must be certified with the FAA in the United States or other comparable regulatory agencies in international jurisdictions. Operating our aircraft in the United States and providing our passenger transportation services must comply with U.S. laws, regulations, safety standards, and customer service regulations. Rigorous testing and the use of approved materials and equipment are among the requirements for achieving certification. Our failure to obtain or maintain certification for our aircraft or infrastructure would have a material adverse effect on our business and operating results. In addition to obtaining and maintaining certification of our aircraft, we will need to obtain and maintain operational authority necessary to provide our envisioned UAM and other services. A transportation or aviation authority may determine that we cannot manufacture, provide, or otherwise engage in those services as we have contemplated. The inability to implement our envisioned services could materially and adversely affect our results of operations, financial condition, and prospects. To the extent the laws change, our aircraft and our services may not comply with those laws, which would have an adverse effect on our business. Complying with changing laws could be burdensome, time consuming, and expensive. To the extent compliance with new laws is cost prohibitive, our business, prospects, financial condition and operating results could be adversely affected. If we expand beyond the United States, such as into the Middle East, Asia, Europe and/or South America, there will be additional laws and regulations we must comply with, and there may be laws and regulations in other jurisdictions we have not yet entered or laws we are unaware of in jurisdictions we have entered that may restrict our operations or business practices or that are difficult to interpret and change rapidly. Continued regulatory limitations and other obstacles interfering with our business operations could have a negative and material impact on our business, prospects, financial condition and results of operations.

Pending legal proceedings and other future legal proceedings against us or our employees, regardless of outcome or merit, could be time consuming and expensive to defend or resolve, result in substantial diversion of management and technical resources, delay, limit or prevent our ability to make, develop, commercialize or deploy our aircraft and aerial ride sharing services and deteriorate our reputation and our business relationships, any of which could make it more difficult or impossible for us to operate our business or otherwise execute on our business plan and significantly adversely affect our business, financial condition, or results of operations. In the event of an adverse outcome of litigation, we may have to cease developing and/or using the asserted intellectual property, which could significantly adversely impact our business, financial condition, or results of operation.

New income, sales, use or other tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be enacted at any time, which could adversely affect our business operations and financial performance. Further, existing tax laws, statutes, rules, regulations or ordinances could be interpreted, changed, modified or applied adversely to us. Future changes in corporate tax rates, the realization of net deferred tax assets relating to our operations, the taxation of foreign earnings, and the deductibility of expenses could have a material impact on the value of our deferred tax assets, could result in significant one-time charges, and could increase our future U.S. tax expense. For tax years beginning after December 31, 2021, current law requires taxpayers to capitalize and amortize certain research and development expenditures over five years if incurred in the United States and fifteen years if incurred in foreign jurisdictions, rather than deducting them concurrently. Although there have been legislative proposals to repeal or defer the capitalization requirement to later years, there can be no assurance that the provision will be repealed or otherwise modified.

- Our ability to compete effectively is dependent on many factors, including, without limitation, the following: - speed to market of our initial aircraft and UAM and other services;- effective strategy and execution of aircraft and service offerings;- product and service safety and performance;- product and service pricing; and - quality of customer support. We will have to demonstrate to potential customers that our products and services are attractive alternatives to other transportation offerings, by differentiating our products and services on the basis of such factors as innovation, performance, brand name, service, and price. This is difficult to do, especially in a competitive market. Some of our competitors may have more established customer relationships than we do, which could inhibit our market penetration efforts. If we are unable to compete effectively, our revenue and profitability will be adversely impacted.

We expect to initially launch our aerial ride sharing offering in limited jurisdictions subject to receipt of the necessary approvals. Accordingly, our business and results of operations are particularly susceptible to adverse infrastructure, economic, social, weather, regulatory, and other conditions in these markets. As a result of our geographic concentration, our business and financial results relating to our aerial ride sharing operations will be particularly susceptible to the impacts of these conditions or other circumstances in each of these metropolitan areas. In addition, any changes to local laws or regulations within these urban areas that affect our ability to operate or increase our operating expenses in these markets would have an adverse effect on our business, financial condition and operating results. Disruption of operations at the locations where our take off and landing facilities are expected to initially be located, whether caused by labor relations, utility or communications issues or challenges with obtaining charging infrastructure, could harm our business. Certain locations may regulate flight operations, such as limiting the number of take offs and landings, which could reduce our aerial ride sharing operations. Bans on eVTOL aircraft operations or the introduction of any new permitting requirements would significantly disrupt our operations. In addition, demand for our Archer UAM services could be impacted if drop-offs or pick-ups of fliers become inconvenient because of take-off and landing rules or regulations, or more expensive for fliers because of take-off and landing related fees, which would adversely affect our business, financial condition and operating results.

Continuing to increase the strength of our reputation and brand for achieving our business plans is critical to our ability to attract and retain personnel, customers, investors, and other business partners. In addition, our growth strategy may include expansion through joint ventures, minority investments or other partnerships with strategic business partners, which may include event activities and cross-marketing with other established brands, all of which may be dependent on our ability to build our reputation and brand recognition. The successful development of our reputation and brand will depend on a number of factors, many of which are outside our control. Negative perception of our technology, industry or our company may harm our reputation and brand, including as a result of: - complaints or negative publicity or reviews about our aircraft or service offerings from our customers or negative publicity reviews about other brands or events we are associated with, even if factually incorrect or based on isolated incidents;- changes to our operations, safety and security, privacy or other policies that users or others perceive as overly restrictive, unclear or inconsistent with our values;- illegal, negligent, reckless or otherwise inappropriate behavior by our management team or other employees, our customers or our other business partners;- actual or perceived disruptions or defects in our aircraft or aerial ride sharing platform, such as data security incidents, platform outages, payment processing disruptions or other incidents that impact the availability, reliability or security of our offerings;- accidents or incidents involving aircraft operated by one of our commercial partners or another member of the aerospace industry;- litigation over, or investigations by regulators into, our aircraft or our operations or those of our customers or other business partners;- a failure to operate our business in a way that is consistent with our values;- negative responses by customers to our UAM offerings;- perception of our treatment of employees, contractors, customers or our other business partners and our response to their sentiment related to political or social causes or actions of management; or - any of the foregoing with respect to our competitors, to the extent such resulting negative perception affects the public's perception of us or our industry as a whole. In addition, changes we may make to enhance and improve our offerings and balance the needs and interests of our various customers may be viewed positively from one group's perspective (such as our UAM customers) but negatively from another's perspective (such as third-party companies that purchase and operate our aircraft), or may not be viewed positively by any of our customers. If we fail to balance the interests of these various customer bases or make changes that they view negatively, our customers may stop purchasing our aircraft or stop using our UAM or other service, any of which could adversely affect our reputation, brand, business, financial condition and results of operations.

Current global political and macroeconomic conditions and the effects thereof, including inflation, volatile interest rates, changes in trade agreements or regulations, tariffs, uncertainty with respect to the federal budget and federal debt ceiling and potential government shutdowns related thereto, actual or perceived instability in the global banking sector, the war in Ukraine and conflicts in the Middle East, supply chain issues, and any economic downturn or recession in certain regions or worldwide have, and may continue to, adversely affect our business, financial condition and results of operations. The existence of inflation in certain economies has resulted in, and may continue to result in, volatile interest rates and capital costs, supply shortages, increased costs of labor, components, manufacturing and shipping, as well as weakening exchange rates and other similar effects. As a result, we have experienced and may continue to experience cost increases. Although we take measures to mitigate the effects of macroeconomic challenges, if these measures are not effective, our business, financial condition, results of operations and liquidity could be materially adversely affected. Even if such measures are effective, there could be a delay between the adverse effect of macroeconomic conditions and the timing of when those beneficial actions impact our results of operations.