Raymond James says investors should buy Aerovironment because its stock has lost nearly half its value over the past year. The company upgraded the drone maker to outperform the market and set a 12-month price target of $210, implying a 49% upside from Wednesday’s close. Analyst Brian Jeshuare said the lofty goals “are worthwhile given recent strong order flow, improving backlog quality, strong end-market demand, accelerating product momentum across (autonomous systems), and a cleaner setup post-SCAR.” AeroVironment has fallen 45% over the past 12 months as it has faced several issues. Due to the government shutdown in the second half of 2025, funding was halted and the company was forced to downwardly revise its outlook for fiscal 2026. In March, it lost a major contract with the U.S. Space Force to build new antennas for aging military satellites. The AVAV 1Y line AeroVironment lasted 12 months, but on Tuesday the Army revealed it was in talks with an unmanned aircraft company for a permanent high-energy laser program, presenting a potential $500 million opportunity, Raymond James said. The company also entered into flexible and large contracts of approximately the same value as domestic securities. Gesuale believes AeroVironment’s order book could grow 20% quarter over quarter, making it an industry leader against drone swarms. “AVs are one of the cleanest ways to invest in warfare modernization because they are exposed to nearly every major defense growth vector,” he said. “We believe there is a long road ahead for revenue growth, margin expansion, and increased cash generation.” Raymond James’ assessment is consistent with the Wall Street consensus. According to LSEG, 18 of the 22 analysts following the stock have rated it a “buy” or “strong buy.”
