It's a good day to be an AeroVironment shareholder. The drone maker reported fiscal first-quarter results after the bell on Wednesday, and the numbers were hard to miss.
Revenue came in at $480.49 million, comfortably ahead of the $456.20 million analysts had penciled in. Adjusted earnings hit 59 cents per share, more than double the 24-cent consensus. That's the kind of beat that gets investors excited.
Digging into the details, total revenue was up 6% year-over-year, helped by stronger product sales and service revenue. The Autonomous Systems segment brought in $346 million, while the Space, Cyber and Directed Energy unit contributed $134.5 million. The company also said its funded backlog stood at $1.5 billion as of Aug. 1, which gives some visibility into future demand.
CEO Wahid Nawabi struck an optimistic tone in the earnings release: "Our customers are continuing to field autonomous capabilities at increasing scale, and our priority is expanding manufacturing capacity across our sites and strengthening our supply chain so we can deliver for our customers at the speed their missions require. We are excited for the opportunities ahead as we extend our track record of value creation for shareholders, customers and all stakeholders that rely on AV."
Looking ahead, AeroVironment guided for fiscal 2027 revenue in the range of $2.125 billion to $2.225 billion, which brackets the analyst forecast of $2.195 billion. The company also reaffirmed its adjusted earnings outlook of $3.02 to $3.34 per share, versus the $3.23 consensus.
Management will discuss the quarter in more detail on an earnings call with investors and analysts at 4:30 p.m. ET.
Investors clearly liked what they saw. AeroVironment shares were up 2.83% in after-hours trading, changing hands at $145.05 at the time of publication.
