Boeing (NYSE: BA) and Archer Aviation (NYSE: ACHR) signed definitive agreements on August 10 for Archer to take over Boeing's Wisk Aero, Insitu, and SkyGrid units. No cash changes hands at closing. Boeing takes newly issued Class A shares equal to 19.75% of Archer's shares outstanding immediately before the deal closes.

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Boeing offloaded a money-losing air taxi program, and Archer bought its way into defense.

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But the payment structure says more than the headline does. Alongside the shares, Boeing gets two warrants covering $200 million of Archer stock. One strikes at $13.00. The other at $17.88. Both sit far above where the shares have been trading, and ACHR closed Monday under $7.

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What Boeing actually bought

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Warrants struck that far out of the money aren't compensation. They're a wager.

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Boeing spent roughly two decades funding this autonomy work. Rather than write it down or sell it for cash, it converted that spending into an equity position plus leveraged upside in a company it doesn't control. It also keeps a board designee and retains access to Wisk's autonomous flight technology for its own commercial and defense aircraft.

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Worth noting: Boeing committed to buy up to $55 million more Archer stock, but only if Archer first raises at least $400 million in a qualifying offering. Which tells you Boeing expects that raise to happen, and is willing to help underwrite it rather than fund Archer today.

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Why Archer paid in stock

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Archer didn't have a realistic alternative.

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The company reported second-quarter revenue of $5.0 million against a net loss of $263.2 million. It finished the quarter with about $1.56 billion in cash and short-term investments, which sounds comfortable until you set it beside an adjusted EBITDA loss of $177.1 million in that same three-month stretch.

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Insitu changes that arithmetic in a way nothing on Archer's own roadmap could. It's profitable, generates more than $200 million in annual revenue, and its uncrewed aircraft are in service with the armed forces of 35 nations. Add Wisk's and SkyGrid's nearly 2 million combined flight hours, and Archer no longer has to wait on a certification date to book real revenue.

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Nearly a fifth of the company is what that cost.

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The parts that can still go wrong

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There are a few things worth knowing before you get comfortable:

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* Antitrust clearance is still pending

* Existing holders absorb the full 19.75% dilution

* The $400 million raise condition signals more shares coming

* Insitu's revenue tracks defense procurement, not eVTOL demand

* Outside closing date runs to May 9, 2027

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To be sure, none of this addresses Archer's central problem, which is that its aircraft still isn't certified and a drone business does nothing to speed that up. You're buying a different company now. One where military hardware revenue subsidizes an air taxi bet that remains unproven, with the added wrinkle that a competitor-turned-partner sits on your cap table and your board.

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If you're watching this from the sidelines, keep $13.00 in front of you. That's where Boeing's first warrant starts paying. Boeing has been around this technology for twenty years and had every number in the data room when it picked that strike. It's about as close to a price target as you'll ever get from a partner that isn't allowed to hand you one.

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