Al Root
Shares of autonomous defense technology company AeroVironment rose after the company posted better-than-expected fiscal fourth-quarter numbers.
Tuesday evening, AeroVironment reported adjusted earnings per share (EPS) of $1.61, up from 43 cents a year ago. Sales rose 40% year over year to $275.1 million.
Wall Street was looking for EPS of $1.38 from sales of $241.5 million, according to FactSet.
Full-year sales landed at $820.6 million, up 14% year over year. Backlog ended the year at $726.6 million, up from $400.2 million a year ago.
"AeroVironment finished out fiscal year 2025 with a remarkable fourth quarter, which included record revenue, significantly higher profits, and a robust backlog nearly double that from fiscal year 2024," said CEO Wahid Nawabi in a news release. "The investments we've consistently made in our multi-generational Uncrewed Systems and Loitering Munition Systems products, coupled with our strong execution, continue to pay off."
AeroVironment stock was up 3.3% in premarket trading at $199.63, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.2% and flat, respectively.
For fiscal year 2026, the company expects sales to be between $1.9 billion and $2 billion and earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization, or Ebitda, to be between $300 and 320 million.
That guidance includes the company's pending merger with BlueHalo.
That merger can create some confusion with estimates. Guidance looks OK. Wall Street currently projects $2 billion in sales and Ebitda of $287 million.
William Blair analyst Louie DiPalma called guidance mixed, but expects shares to "climb higher in the long term," noting that foreign sales are poised to ramp up. He rates shares Buy and doesn't have a price target for the stock.
"Backlog of $775 million increased [year over year] largely due to multiple Switchblade orders," noted Jefferies analyst Greg Konrad in a Tuesday report. Switchblades are AeroVironment's guidable, loitering munitions, like a Kamikaze bomb with a camera attached.
He rates shares Buy and has a $190 price target for the stock.
Coming into Wednesday trading, AeroVironment stock was flat over the past year. Optimism about unmanned systems was offset by falling sales to Ukraine. Sales to Ukraine represented 18% of 2025 sales, down from 38% in 2024. Management expects Ukraine sales to be less than 5% of total sales in 2026.
Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com
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June 25, 2025 09:00 ET (13:00 GMT)
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