AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) Trading 2% Higher – Still a Buy?

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV)’s stock price shot up 2% on Thursday . The stock traded as high as $219.51 and last traded at $211.88. 2,876,502 shares changed hands during trading, an increase of 43% from the average session volume of 2,011,184 shares. The stock had previously closed at $207.73.

AeroVironment News Roundup

Here are the key news stories impacting AeroVironment this week:

• Positive Sentiment: Institutional and technical support: MarketBeat highlights institutional accumulation and a technical bottom near $200, arguing the pullback is a possible long‑term value entry if AVAV executes on backlog and commercial expansion. AeroVironment Touches Down On Value Opportunity
• Positive Sentiment: Backlog and demand resilience: commentary and social‑data summaries note a record backlog (~$1.1B) and sustained demand for unmanned/counter‑drone systems, supporting medium‑term revenue visibility despite timing issues. QuiverQuant earnings discussion
• Neutral Sentiment: Analysts mostly kept buy/overweight ratings even after trimming targets — the cuts lower near‑term upside expectations but preserve buy case from many firms. This creates mixed sentiment: upside remains if execution rebounds. Analyst reactions and price targets
• Negative Sentiment: Q3 miss and guidance cut: AVAV reported ~143% YoY revenue growth but missed revenue and adjusted EPS estimates and lowered FY26 EPS to $2.75–$3.10, which triggered the initial selloff and increased near‑term uncertainty. Q3 miss and shares plunge
• Negative Sentiment: Contract visibility risk: reports of a stop‑work/termination risk on the Space Force SCAR program (~$1.4–1.7B cited in some coverage) amplify revenue timing and backlog uncertainty. SCAR contract uncertainty
• Negative Sentiment: Financing and liquidity risk: disclosure of $727M in notes has raised concerns that leverage and covenants will tighten, increasing liquidity risk for investors to monitor. Notes raise and leverage risk
• Negative Sentiment: Headline/legal and insider risk: a Pomerantz investor probe was announced and the CFO disclosed a small share sale — both add short‑term headline risk and may amplify volatility. Pomerantz investigation CFO Form 4

Wall Street Analyst Weigh In

Several equities research analysts have recently commented on the company. Stifel Nicolaus cut their price objective on AeroVironment from $389.00 to $315.00 and set a “buy” rating for the company in a report on Wednesday. The Goldman Sachs Group dropped their price target on shares of AeroVironment from $486.00 to $429.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a research report on Friday, December 12th. KeyCorp decreased their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $330.00 to $295.00 and set an “overweight” rating for the company in a research report on Wednesday. Citizens Jmp dropped their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $400.00 to $350.00 and set a “market outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Finally, UBS Group cut their target price on shares of AeroVironment from $259.00 to $236.00 and set a “neutral” rating for the company in a research note on Wednesday. One analyst has rated the stock with a Strong Buy rating, eighteen have issued a Buy rating, one has assigned a Hold rating and three have given a Sell rating to the company. Based on data from MarketBeat, the company presently has an average rating of “Moderate Buy” and an average target price of $318.78.

AeroVironment Stock Up 2.0%

The firm has a market cap of $10.58 billion, a P/E ratio of -48.82, a P/E/G ratio of 3.51 and a beta of 1.26. The firm’s fifty day moving average is $282.58 and its 200 day moving average is $292.68. The company has a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.16, a quick ratio of 4.29 and a current ratio of 5.08.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its quarterly earnings results on Tuesday, March 10th. The aerospace company reported $0.64 earnings per share for the quarter, missing the consensus estimate of $0.68 by ($0.04). The company had revenue of $408.05 million during the quarter, compared to the consensus estimate of $487.94 million. AeroVironment had a negative net margin of 13.93% and a positive return on equity of 3.52%. The firm’s revenue was up 143.4% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same period in the prior year, the company earned $0.30 earnings per share. AeroVironment has set its FY 2026 guidance at 2.750-3.100 EPS. As a group, equities research analysts anticipate that AeroVironment, Inc. will post 3.38 earnings per share for the current fiscal year.

Insider Transactions at AeroVironment

In other AeroVironment news, Director Stephen F. Page sold 1,000 shares of the company’s stock in a transaction on Thursday, January 15th. The stock was sold at an average price of $377.62, for a total value of $377,620.00. Following the transaction, the director directly owned 51,001 shares of the company’s stock, valued at $19,258,997.62. This represents a 1.92% decrease in their position. The sale was disclosed in a filing with the SEC, which is available through this hyperlink. Also, CFO Kevin Patrick Mcdonnell sold 999 shares of the stock in a transaction on Monday, January 12th. The stock was sold at an average price of $367.60, for a total value of $367,232.40. Following the transaction, the chief financial officer owned 17,301 shares in the company, valued at $6,359,847.60. The trade was a 5.46% decrease in their position. The disclosure for this sale is available in the SEC filing. Over the last quarter, insiders have sold 4,474 shares of company stock worth $1,390,404. Company insiders own 0.81% of the company’s stock.

Institutional Investors Weigh In On AeroVironment

Institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the business. Vanguard Group Inc. increased its position in AeroVironment by 1.5% during the third quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,530,073 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $1,111,585,000 after acquiring an additional 51,959 shares during the period. Groupama Asset Managment acquired a new stake in AeroVironment in the 3rd quarter worth about $314,890,000. Geode Capital Management LLC boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 8.8% in the 4th quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 884,395 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $213,956,000 after purchasing an additional 71,903 shares during the period. Heard Capital LLC boosted its holdings in AeroVironment by 48.4% in the 4th quarter. Heard Capital LLC now owns 722,150 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $174,681,000 after purchasing an additional 235,685 shares during the period. Finally, Van ECK Associates Corp grew its position in shares of AeroVironment by 17.4% during the 3rd quarter. Van ECK Associates Corp now owns 686,273 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $216,101,000 after purchasing an additional 101,713 shares in the last quarter. Institutional investors own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) is a technology company specializing in unmanned aerial systems (UAS), tactical missiles and precision loitering munitions, electric vehicle charging and scalable energy systems. Headquartered in Monrovia, California, the company develops solutions for defense, public safety and commercial markets. Their offerings include small UAS for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, as well as advanced weapons systems designed to meet the needs of modern military operations.

The company’s unmanned aerial systems portfolio features platforms such as the Raven, Puma and Switchblade series, which are deployed by the U.S.