Shares of aerospace and defense company AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) took a nearly 7% hit on Friday after the U.S. approved a $300 million deal for its rival, Anduril Industries, to sell drones to Taiwan. This news extends AeroVironment’s recent slide, which has seen shares fall roughly 16% over two days after hitting an all-time high of $224 on Thursday. The deal includes 291 Altius 600M-V drones, launch systems, transport trailers, and ground control systems.
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The U.S. also greenlit a smaller $60 million sale of 720 AeroVironment Switchblade 300 drones, but both deals still need Congress’ approval. Analyst Louie DiPalma mentioned that this Anduril order could be one of the biggest in the drone industry.
Investor Sentiment for AVAV Remains Very Positive
Despite the company’s recent weakness, the sentiment among TipRanks investors is currently very positive. Out of the 741,219 portfolios tracked by TipRanks, 0.2% hold AVAV stock. In addition, the average portfolio weighting allocated towards AVAV among those who do have a position is 3.33%. This suggests that investors of the company are fairly confident about its future.
Furthermore, in the last 30 days, 5.3% of those holding the stock increased their positions. As a result, the stock’s sentiment is above the sector average, as demonstrated in the following image:
What Is the Price Target for AVAV?
Turning to Wall Street, analysts have a Moderate Buy consensus rating on AVAV stock based on two Buys assigned in the past three months, as indicated by the graphic below. After a 98% rally in its share price over the past year, the average AVAV price target of $207.50 per share implies 9.51% upside potential.
