Blade Air Mobility Stock is Worth Watching

Urban air mobility platform Blade Air Mobility NASDAQ: BLDE stock has staged a nice bounce nearing doubling off its 2021 low at $6.41 as a benefactor of the reopening trade. The Company has often been portrayed as the Uber NASDAQ: UBER of the air mobility segment. It offers a platform making it an asset-light business that connects passengers with third-party contractors that actually own and operate the helicopters. Blade is set to be a key player in the urban air mobility (UAM) transport segment in the U.S. Northeast. The Company offers five-minute flights between Manhattan and New York City area airports for $195, or $95 with annual passes. Opportunities also grow as the global movement towards decarbonization expands with electric vehicle aircraft (EVA) and the eventual transition to electrical vertical takeoff and landing aircraft (eVTOL). The post-pandemic recovery and reopening have enabled the Company to grow as commuters return to work and live engagements. Prudent investors seeking a first-mover in the UAM segment can watch for opportunistic pullbacks in Blade Air Mobility shares.

Q3 2021 Earnings Release

On Aug. 16, 2021, Blade released its fiscal third-quarter 2021 results for the quarter ending June 2021. The Company reported total revenues up 277% year-over-year (YoY) to $13 million. Short Distance revenues were up 810% to $5.7 million. MediMobility organ transport and jet revenues grew to $6.5 million, up 147% YoY. Net loss grew to (-$24.3 million) versus (-$1.3 million) in the year ago period. Adjusted EBITDA fell to (-$2.6 million) versus (-$1.3 million) in 2020 attributable to D&O insurance $1.1 million and $0.6 million paid to third-party fees.

Blade CEO and CFO Comments

Blade CEO Rob Wiesenthal commented, “Blade’s strong growth versus both 2020 and the pre-covid 2019 period shows the growing importance of affordable urban air mobility travel in the world's largest cities as well as the resilience of our multi-faceted, asset-light business model. We are well-capitalized to execute on our organic growth plans as well as our acquisition roadmap, continuing our focus on building value for Blade's shareholders.” Blade CFO Will Heyburn added, ““A continued recovery of our short-distance routes, with revenues now at 87% of pre-pandemic levels, coupled with strong growth in MediMobility and jet versus last year, drove great results this quarter. While hybrid remote-office work patterns have benefited Blade’s commuter business throughout the pandemic, we continue to closely monitor potential impacts to travel from the Delta variant.”

Conference Call Takeaways

Blade CEO Wiesenthal underscored expansion plans, “We're also preparing to launch new northeast corridor routes in 2022. We will share additional details about this before the year-end. With respect to our pipeline of strategic acquisitions and partnerships, we expect to announce two transactions before the end of this calendar year that will both fortify our strategic mode and accelerate our growth. Further, we have continued to support our transition required in emission-free features, I mean emission-free future like entering into new alliances with leading EVA manufacturers. Just this quarter, we announced new partnerships with magniX and Eve bringing the total number of Blade electric aircraft to four.” He continued, “Although respected and well-capitalized companies including Embraer where Eve is one of their UAM divisions. Two of these partners are in fact flying their aircraft today with test pilots. Our agreement with magniX will enable Blade to secure a supply of electric aircraft propulsion units for Lima or the Blade's largest aircraft operating partners. EVPs will enable Lima to converge its Blade branded fleet of ambiguous seaplanes to all-electric aircraft starting as early as 2023 when development for commercial use is completed. Electric seaplanes will be supplied across Blade's northeastern and southeastern routes and are expected to operate emission-free at the same speed as the current generation of turbine aircraft with significantly reduced noise spectrum and lower operating costs.”

Electric Vehicle Aircrafts

CEO Rosenthal touched on the EVA evolution, “This alliance is uniquely important as it provides a near-term bridge to EVA given the engines compatibility with already certified aircraft that are currently being utilized by Blade. Our agreement with Eve will enable Blade to deploy their EVA in South Florida and Westcoast markets beginning in 2026 when development commercial use have expected to be completed. Blade will pay by the hour fees with the aircraft which will be operated by Eve and its local partners, again consistent with our asset-light approach.” He concluded, “These alliances in addition to our earlier partnerships with data technologies and Wisk Aero a joint venture between Boeing and Larry Page's Kitty Hawk de-risk our lines on the deployment schedule of any one manufacturer both giving Blade a portfolio of aircraft with different capabilities that are necessary for our wide variety of mission profiles. These alliances are subject to entering into additional agreements and certain FAA approvals. We'll share additional developments with respect to our EVA alliances on future calls.”

BLDE Opportunistic Pullback Levels

Using the rifle charts on the weekly and daily time frame provides a near-term view of the landscape for BLDE stock. The weekly rifle chart turned up as a breakout is forming on the initial pop through the $11.11 Fibonacci (fib) level. The weekly 5-period moving average (MA) sits at $9.22 with the weekly upper Bollinger Band at the $12.95 fib. The weekly stochastic bounced up from the 20-band to form a  mini pup. The daily rifle chart is testing the daily market structure high (MSH) trigger at $11.22 after triggering the daily market structure low (MSL) on the breakout through $7.98. The daily 5-period MA is rising at $10.12 with 15-period MA rising near the $9.50 fib. The daily upper BBs sit at $11.58. The daily stochastic crossed back up through the 80-band. It’s important to wait for opportunistic pullback levels at the $10.31 fib, $9.91 fib, $9.15 fib, $8.35 fib, and the $7.66 fib. Upside trajectories range from the $15.08 fib level up to the $22.43 fib level.