What Happened?
Shares of aerospace and defense company AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) jumped 2.7% in the morning session after the company announced it was awarded a U.S. Army contract and named the lead software and systems integrator for the Human-Machine Integrated Formations (HMIF) program.
The contract came from the U.S. Army's Rapid Capabilities and Critical Technologies Office (RCCTO). AeroVironment's Kinesis tactical mission planning and command-and-control software was selected to provide a unified interface for the project. This system is intended to simplify complex operations and improve mission capabilities. The company partnered with Applied Research Associates' Neya Systems, Parry Labs, and QinetiQ for the program. In other news, AeroVironment also revealed three new additions to its Switchblade family of loitering munitions, aiming to enhance operational flexibility on the battlefield.
After the initial pop the shares cooled down to $359.80, up 2.6% from previous close.
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What Is The Market Telling Us
AeroVironment’s shares are very volatile and have had 24 moves greater than 5% over the last year. In that context, today’s move indicates the market considers this news meaningful but not something that would fundamentally change its perception of the business.
The previous big move we wrote about was 7 days ago when the stock gained 3.5% on the news that the company made two significant announcements, unveiling a new unmanned aircraft system and appointing a new president for its space and defense segment. AeroVironment released its newest all-electric vertical takeoff and landing (VTOL) drone, the VAPOR Compact Long Endurance (CLE) unmanned aircraft system. This new model built on the performance of previous versions with a more compact design and integrated on-board computing, making it a fully autonomous system. In a separate announcement, the company appointed Mary Clum as President of its Space, Cyber & Directed Energy business segment. Clum, who was already an Executive Vice President at the company, was set to take on the new role, reporting directly to the CEO.
AeroVironment is up 130% since the beginning of the year, but at $359.80 per share, it is still trading 12.2% below its 52-week high of $409.83 from October 2025. Investors who bought $1,000 worth of AeroVironment’s shares 5 years ago would now be looking at an investment worth $4,765.
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