Al Root

Shares of unmanned military technology provider AeroVironment rose after catching a Wall Street upgrade. There's a lot of opportunity for growth.

Thursday, BofA Securities analyst Ronald Epstein launched coverage of the drone maker's stock with a Buy rating and $300 price target.

The growth is coming from an increased focus on drones. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's move aimed at "unleashing American drone dominance" was a "pivotal positive catalyst" for AeroVironment, wrote Epstein.

In July, Hegseth implemented policies designed to boost drone production, supply combat units with more drones, and train officers in their use.

AeroVironment stock was up 1.9% at $277.27 in premarket trading, while S&P 500 and Dow Jones Industrial Average futures were up 0.8% and 0.6%, respectively.

The rest of the Street feels like Epstein. Overall, 14 of 14, or 100%, of analysts covering AeroVironment stock rate shares Buy, according to FactSet. The average Buy-rating ratio for stocks in the S&P 500 is about 55%. The average analyst price target for the stock is about $303.

The consensus call on Wall Street is for sales and gross profits to grow by about 23% and 25%, respectively, for the coming three years.

Investors have caught on to the drone trend, too. Coming into Thursday trading, AeroVironment stock was up about 77% this year. Higher military spending, as well as greater use of unmanned technologies, has helped.

Gains have left AeroVironment stock trading at about 58 times estimated 2026 earnings. That's at the high end of its historic valuation range.

Write to Al Root at allen.root@dowjones.com

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September 18, 2025 08:04 ET (12:04 GMT)

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