Ondas, AeroVironment, LightPath, Kraken Robotics and Kratos are the best defense rotation candidates right now, since the sector will eventually pick up steam again and positioning before the move is key. x.comÂ
Sleuth
Stock Investor, Early Ondas Holdings Shareholder
Defense names Ondas, LightPath, AeroVironment, Amprius and Kratos are a healthy rotation target as chips, memory and AI infrastructure stocks look very overextended. Many high-quality defense stocks are down this year and well below 52-week highs, yet have strong tailwinds from Trump's new defense budget. @bennytrades_ also sees defense as a good theme to rotate into soon. 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
Drone stocks look obvious winners for the next few years as one of the earliest clear beneficiaries of the robotics revolution. Ondas and AVEX are the preferred exposures, and AeroVironment is also a great pick whose pullback looks overdone relative to its fundamental story. x.comÂ
Kraken Robotics is not yet a buy despite falling almost 60% from its high. It should first report combined results with Covelya that preserve a credible growth and margin path, and the stock should form a base; the defence factor remains deeply out of favor. @DeepSailCapital argues it is near a bottom, expecting CAD 0.20 of 2028 EPS, mid-20s to 30s revenue growth and product ramps with Anduril. x.com x.comÂ
Defense stocks such as Kratos, AeroVironment, Ondas, Northrop Grumman and L3Harris are trading as if global leaders had turned into pacifist hippies, which is probably not the case. x.comÂ
US drone stocks such as Ondas, AeroVironment, Kratos, Unusual Machines and Red Cat are set for a legendary rotation as the Trump administration is in talks to fund US drone companies, per a WSJ report shared by @zerohedge. x.comÂ
Kraken Robotics is stuck in a trap as its key catalyst, the Anduril subsea ramp, is delayed by at least a year. That ramp likely needs a US battery facility and a Navy order to confirm, and the defense budget showed no large FY27 subsea-drone order. The market has also turned on drone and defense stocks after they ran ahead of a multi-year buildout, and without an uplisting from its junior exchange institutional ownership and volume stay thin. Second-half earnings may bring some support. x.comÂ
Defense and drone stocks have been oversold even though their fundamentals have not changed. Ondas offers explosive growth and counter-drone exposure, Kratos has Valkyrie and hypersonics, AeroVironment has Switchblade and Army contracts, Unusual Machines has leverage to drone components, and Red Cat has Army wins and NDAA-compliant drones. x.comÂ
Better underwriting at Root, AI data demand at Innodata, defense breadth at Applied Aerospace & Defense, scaled voice AI at SoundHound, more organ access via TransMedics, profitable insurance at Lemonade, autonomous defense at Ondas and successful medicines at AbCellera could drive outsized growth. These eight smaller companies have a realistic path to 5x+ over 5-10 years if they execute on those opportunities. x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.com x.comÂ
Space and defense stocks such as Rocket Lab, Kratos and AeroVironment warrant skepticism after a big run because the sector doesn't generate profits the way other sectors do. Many of the announced deals are burdens that take a long time to execute. Excitement around Rocket Lab could return before or after its Neutron launch. x.com x.com x.comÂ
Kratos and Kraken Robotics are falling on sector macro, not business decline, so a strong year-end close looks likely. Both hit 52-week lows, down 68% and 64% from this year's highs. Per Bernstein, peace headlines and a stalled US budget put defense at a 12% discount to the S&P, but it expects the 2027 budget to rise over 10%. Raymond James notes tax-loss selling hits YTD losers into mid-October, and they often lead the rebound. Kratos has a record $2.08B backlog; Kraken guides $290-320M. x.comÂ