What Is Joby Aviation Building That Investors Should Watch?
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Joby Aviation (JOBY) says certifying, manufacturing and scaling its electric air taxi service remains its primary focus. Its stock has lost 56.8% over the past year, against a 13.7% return for the S&P 500. But on the November 4 earnings call, management also described a new business it is putting together beside the air taxi, one that already has sales. What is that business, and how far along is it?
Joby Plans A Dedicated Defense Business
Joby is acquiring Resonant Sciences. Once the deal closes, management said on the call, Resonant will become Joby’s dedicated defense business. Management expects the transaction to finish before the next results call and said the combination will speed up Joby’s work on autonomous flight.
Joby already performs some defense work of its own. The U.S. Air Force added funding for Joby’s autonomous flight technology through AFWERX, its innovation arm. This addition brings Joby’s total autonomy contract value to about $37 million, up from nearly $20 million in earlier contracts. The Air Force also raised the ceiling on Joby’s operational testing contract to $50 million, from $5 million. While these figures represent contract values rather than sales, both rose in the same November 4 award.
How Big Is Resonant Next To Joby’s Sales?
Resonant generated more than $100 million in revenue over the twelve months to July 2026, management said, against the $149 million Joby reported over the twelve months to September. Management also said that Resonant’s revenue was growing about 40% from a year earlier.
Joby’s current sales come mainly from Blade, its passenger flight business, which flew more than 44,000 passengers in the third quarter. The deal would therefore give Joby a second business of real size alongside those flights, while the air taxi is still in testing.
Investors already pay a high price for Joby’s sales, even after the stock’s fall. At the November 9 close, Joby stock traded at 40.6 times its sales over the past twelve months, compared with 3.1 times for the S&P 500. The price appears to assume far more revenue than the two companies bring in together today.
What Has To Go Right For Joby’s Defense Business?
The deal still has to close, and management said that depends on regulatory approvals and other closing conditions. Joby also has to pay for the acquisition. Management said the payment for Resonant, about $450 million, is due early in 2027, against the $2.2 billion in cash and short-term investments Joby held at September 30.
That payment comes while Joby keeps spending on the air taxi. Joby’s free cash flow was negative $784 million over the past twelve months. Management expects to use $385 million to $415 million of cash in the second half of 2026, a period whose third quarter is already in that twelve-month figure.
Management would not give a runway number when asked on the November 4 call. It pointed instead to a second $250 million investment from Toyota, expected in the first half of 2027, and to $620 million it can still raise through its program of selling new shares. It said those, together with its cash, take Joby well beyond the start of commercial passenger operations planned for 2027.
The next report is expected in February 2027. Joby’s quarterly revenue, $55.1 million in the third quarter, is the number to watch once the deal closes.
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