GoKawiilAeroVironment shares skyrocketed 15% after the dronemaker easily blew past Wall Street's fiscal fourth-quarter estimates, benefiting from U.S. plans to modernize the military and secure space.
The Virginia-based defense company more than doubled revenue from a year ago to $642 million, while funded backlog jumped 65% to $1.2 billion. Revenue for autonomous systems totaled $492 million, surpassing the $402 million StreetAccount expectations.
CEO Wahid Nawabi told analysts in a Monday earnings call that the company is scaling manufacturing to keep pace with unprecedented demand and that the company's growth opportunity has "never been stronger.
Other drone stocks rallied in support. Kratos Defense and Security Solutions surged 4%, while Red Cat gained 1%. Small-cap drone components maker Unusual Machines added 12%.
While shares have pulled back in June, AeroVironment is positioning itself for a windfall from the step-up in government funding. The Department of Defense budget is requesting a record $75 billion for drones in 2027 as the Trump administration seeks a historic $1.5 trillion defense budget.
In his second term in office, President Donald Trump has made American drone dominance one of his primary military goals amid a backdrop of rising geopolitical threats, along with scaling U.S. shipbuilding and an extensive Golden Dome project to protect space.