** Shares of Red Cat Holdings RCAT.O up 22.4% at $14.11, a nearly 9-mth high, early Fri after two brokerages issue bullish reports

** RCAT shares rising for 5th straight day, tracking ~36% weekly gain

** Needham initiates coverage of drone tech firm at 'buy' with PT of $17, implying ~48% upside to stock's last close

** Also, Northland Capital Markets boosts its PT by $2 to $18

** RCAT benefiting from increased demand for small autonomous mobile systems, such as drones and unmanned surface vessels $(USV)$, Northland says, adding the Ukraine war has prompted the U.S. Government and militaries globally to accelerate purchases

** The San Juan, Puerto Rico-headquartered firm's RCAT has about $1.7 bln current market cap, per LSEG data

** With move on Fri, RCAT shares up ~8% YTD. The stock closed at $3.29 a year ago

(Lance Tupper is a Reuters market analyst. The views expressed are his own)

((lance.tupper@tr.com 1-646-279-6380))