AeroVironment's 23% rally looks unjustified because the company is again signaling unimpressive growth, with its FY27 revenue growth target below 10%. x.comÂ
Stone Fox Capital
Founder, CIO & Portfolio Manager of Stone Fox Capital
AeroVironment is expensive against its earnings at 45x, versus the 24x aerospace and defense suppliers usually get. Fair value sits at $93.02 to $118.39, or 24x next year's $4.40 EPS give or take 12%, leaving the $196.02 price 66% above the high end, and even that leans on forward earnings 47% above trailing. The call rests on valuation levels from reported earnings and estimates only, not fundamental work. x.comÂ
AeroVironment is a stock to leave for good, because it has had too many management issues this year. x.comÂ
Projected earnings growth makes AeroVironment look best on valuation among the drone names discussed. The consensus figures shown put adjusted EPS at $3.26 in 2027 and $8.32 in 2030, with the indicated P/E falling from 37x to 14.5x. x.com x.comÂ
AeroVironment's latest print was solid but not full confirmation that profitability is on track. Revenue and EPS beat, funded backlog reached $1.5B and AxS grew 21%, validating demand, but SCDE fell 21% and EBITDA declined year over year. Even after the brutal defense selloff since Q1, whether the stock has bottomed is still unclear. x.comÂ
Ondas Holdings' valuation is hard to justify, and its long-term risk/reward looks less favorable than AeroVironment or Kratos. Per @rzayev7895's read of the earnings, growth comes from acquisitions rather than organically, share count rose 200-300%, market cap roughly quadrupled, cash comes from stock sales, and most backlog arrived with acquired companies. Ondas is more than drones, with critical private networks, but that does not change the valuation view. x.com x.com x.comÂ
AeroVironment is a long-term buy on weakness because its counter-drone and directed-energy position keeps strengthening while the chart stays depressed. It won a $464.8M US Army LOCUST contract, its first US production contract for high-energy lasers, plus a >$50M international order, and is one of four systems in the US counter-drone directed-energy pilot ahead of a December shoot-off. The stock has built a $135-150 range for three months with improving MFI, a potential bullish divergence. … Show more
Aevex Aerospace isn't cheap just because its EV/revenue or price-to-sales multiples look reasonable next to AeroVironment and Kratos. A dollar of Aevex revenue is not worth the same, as those two have much more sophisticated technology, while Aevex focuses on low-cost drones, an even more competitive market. It is worth considering only once people stop talking about it. x.comÂ
Redwire is losing the drone battle to AeroVironment. The two won the $1 billion LRR program, but AeroVironment says it is getting close to 90% of the awards and was blunt on its last call: warfighters are far more satisfied with its systems than with competitors', and when rival products don't perform in the field, future procurement decisions follow. x.comÂ
AeroVironment has plenty left in the tank if the macro holds up, after hitting two price targets this week. x.com x.comÂ
NextVision's selloff to about 24x forward earnings looks unjustified for a 100%-plus grower in drones whose growth recently accelerated. Q2 was very strong and the company raised its revenue growth outlook. Lower gross margin might explain the drop, but that was true last quarter and gross margin improved in Q2. x.com x.comÂ