Joby Aviation (NYSE: JOBY) is making a major strategic move, agreeing to acquire defense technology company Resonant Sciences for approximately $500 million.
The deal breaks down to roughly $450 million in cash and $50 million in Joby stock, representing one of the company’s boldest financial commitments to date.
Resonant Sciences, based in Dayton, Ohio, builds radio frequency and mission systems for U.S. national security customers, specializing in low-observability technology.
In practical terms, Resonant’s systems help military aircraft sense their surroundings and avoid detection, serving a segment of defense that is seeing growing demand.
Resonant generated more than $100 million in trailing twelve-month revenue, up approximately 40% year over year, while also producing positive adjusted EBITDA.
Demand is accelerating sharply, with new business bookings in the first half of 2026 surpassing three times the volume recorded in the same period a year earlier.
Resonant’s backlog more than doubled year over year, signaling strong momentum in its defense contracts heading into the close of the deal.
Joby raised its full-year 2026 revenue outlook in August to between $115 million and $125 million, meaning Resonant’s trailing revenue is nearly as large as Joby’s entire annual forecast.
On matched twelve-month bases, the acquisition would roughly double Joby’s revenue base, making the price tag of less than five times trailing sales look modest for a 40%-growth business.
Joby held approximately $2.3 billion in cash and short-term investments at the end of June, giving the company the balance sheet capacity to absorb the purchase.
Management has guided for between $385 million and $415 million in cash use during the second half of 2026 alone, meaning the Resonant payment and that operational spending together account for around $850 million of the June 30 balance.
In February, Joby raised approximately $576 million in net proceeds from a stock offering and an additional $670 million from convertible notes, which funds much of the cash being deployed now.
On the same day it announced the Resonant deal, Joby also established a program to sell up to $750 million in new shares over time, signaling awareness of the pace of cash consumption.
The acquisition is not expected to close until the first half of 2027, pending regulatory reviews, meaning none of Resonant’s financial results will appear in Joby’s numbers for some time.
JOBY shares were trading below $7 as of early September, close to their 52-week low and down roughly two-thirds from a 52-week high of nearly $20.
The weak stock performance reflects investor impatience with the timeline for electric air taxi revenue, which has yet to materialize in any meaningful way for the company.
Of the $38.6 million Joby reported in second-quarter revenue, $36.2 million came from passenger flights booked through Blade, the passenger business Joby acquired in August 2025.
Joby reported in its August update that it made its strongest quarterly progress yet in the fifth and final stage of FAA type certification, with first passenger flights still targeted before the end of 2026.
The company’s first flights under a federal pilot program are expected to take place in Texas this month, a milestone that investors will be watching closely.
At a market capitalization of approximately $6.7 billion, Joby trades at more than 50 times the midpoint of its 2026 revenue outlook, a valuation that remains squarely a bet on the future of electric air taxis rather than current earnings.
