Ren
Head of AI, Ex-Product Manager, AI Supply-Chain Bottlenecks
Coda Octopus offers real exposure to Iran mining the Strait of Hormuz because its Echoscope sonar maps mines in pitch-black water, unlike names bought merely for being in the news. It beat expectations, with EPS of $0.08 versus $0.06 and revenue of $6.71 million versus $6.23 million, and every business unit grew. It is a profitable micro-cap with 66.5% gross margins and zero debt. x.comÂ
Coda Octopus is positioned to benefit from efforts to clear Iranian sea mines from the Strait of Hormuz. Its Echoscope sonar sees underwater in zero visibility and is already contracted by Special Operations Command and explosive ordnance disposal forces for exactly this kind of mission. A post the author replies to, citing the WSJ, notes underwater defense names are drawing attention and possible contracts. Coda grew revenue 30% last year with zero debt. x.comÂ
Coda Octopus is a good acquisition target for larger players given its great technology and undervalued stock, especially since small caps struggle to sell into large programs; it is surprising it has not been acquired already. @GrumpierBTDay is betting it makes it into one of the USV/UUV programs, possibly drawing acquisition interest during trials. x.comÂ
Kraken Robotics is the subsystem prime for underwater drones, putting $3-5 million of content per hull in reach as Anduril and navies scale uncrewed fleets. Its offering spans batteries, sonar and navigation via Covelya/Sonardyne. Funds that bought near CAD $2 two years ago have spent four months clearing their positions, and that selling is mostly past. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Norbit's Q1 miss doesn't break its AUV thesis, and the market's confusion over its changing character is the opportunity. Oceans fell 12% and gross margin fell to 53% from 62% because rental customers didn't repeat a strong Q1 2025, while its curved-array multibeam sonar for small autonomous platforms has no revenue in the numbers yet. PIR grew 111% on European defense contract manufacturing and Connectivity 45%. At about 21x 2027 earnings after 40% growth, it isn't priced as a compounder. x.comÂ
These five defense autonomy companies can each 10x on fast-growing drone, unmanned and counter-drone businesses. Kraken Robotics makes subsea drones, batteries and sonar for autonomous underwater warfare. Ondas grew TTM revenue 979% to $174M and guides 2026 to $525M-$550M. Kratos has a $2B backlog in unmanned systems, hypersonics and missile defense. AeroVironment grew TTM revenue 84% to $2.0B on military drones, and Red Cat grew 867% with a 2026 target of $150M-$180M. x.comÂ
Kraken Robotics offers one of the best risk-reward setups in defense, giving exposure to Anduril's autonomy trend at a fraction of the valuation. It supplies SeaPower subsea batteries for Anduril's underwater drone programs, has 2026 product orders of $327-355M and guides to $290-320M revenue and $65-75M adjusted EBITDA, yet sits near a sub-$1B market cap after a 60%+ drop. It plans a full TSX listing in late 2026 or early 2027, and $10 is the target. x.comÂ
Kraken Robotics' new $35M of orders is huge news, and the stock still looks extremely cheap as a direct beneficiary of conflict in the Strait of Hormuz, after falling well below its March all-time high. CEO Greg Reid says its product portfolio, used across crewed and uncrewed defense and commercial platforms, should make up over 75% of 2026 revenue. x.com x.comÂ
