AeroVironment stock soars on earnings beat, backlog grows to $1.2B

AeroVironment The stock rose 19% after the bell on Monday, the drone maker reported fourth quarter profit beat on the top and bottom lines.

The company beat expectations by reporting earnings of $1.84 per share; Analysts surveyed by LSEG expected $1.46 per share. Income also came first; It more than doubled to $642 million compared to analysts’ forecast of $559 million.

CEO Wahid Nawabi said in a statement that AeroVironment is well positioned to capitalize on growing global demand for drones, counter-drones and space technology.

AeroVironment’s $1.2 billion funded backlog was up 65% from last year, but was only slightly above the $1.1 billion backlog reported in the prior period. Autonomous systems revenue of $492 million easily beat StreetAccount expectations of $402 million.

Nawabi told CNBC’s Morgan Brennan during an exclusive tour of the company’s Simi Valley facility in California that the fundamentals of war have changed due to recent conflicts in Ukraine and Iran.

“We knew this turning point was going to happen sooner or later,” he said, “and these last few globally well-known conflicts have essentially brought this thing to the fore.”

AeroVironment had net income of $63.17 million, or $1.25 per share, in Q4 2026. A year ago, the company reported net income of $16.66 million, or 59 cents per share.

The drone manufacturer expects fiscal year 2027 revenue to be between $2.13 billion and $2.23 billion, while LSEG’s expectation is $2.17 billion. The company’s adjusted 2027 earnings per share expectation was in the range of $3.02 to $3.34, while LSEG’s expectations were $3.94 per share.

The company’s shares have lost more than 40 percent of their value this year, but considering that the U.S. Department of Defense’s budget for drones alone will likely exceed $75 billion next year, we have a huge opportunity ahead of us.

“Not only the US War Department, but all of our allies are behind the eight ball in terms of adoption and deployment,” Nawabi told CNBC. he said.

“We’re trying to catch up now. Our army is trying to catch up very quickly,” he added.