The White House signals more drone deals within two weeks. So why did drone stocks drop today? (AVAV, UMAC, ONDS)
The White House signaled more drone funding deals within two weeks at its first 'Drone Dominance' meeting on August 20. AeroVironment, Unusual Machines, Ondas, Red Cat and Kratos all fell the same day anyway, in what looks like a broader selloff tied to rising bond yields, not the meeting.
Kratos (KTOS), AeroVironment (AVAV) and Ondas (ONDS) jumped at least 16% in two weeks. All three are still down this year.
Lockheed Martin, Palantir and Kratos all beat estimates and raised guidance inside twelve days, and every drone maker we track gained at least 16% over the two weeks. Kratos and AeroVironment are still the worst performers in the group for 2026.
A drone motor costs $12 from China and $100 from America. The Pentagon just committed $820 million to close the gap.
The Pentagon committed $1.3 billion to drones last week and none of it reached the stocks that rallied. The $820 million loan went to privately held Performance Drone Works, and it was for motors, batteries and control electronics rather than aircraft. The majority of drones on the Pentagon's own approved list still run Chinese motors, because a Chinese one costs $12 and an American one costs $100.
The Pentagon committed $820 million to a drone company you can't buy, and said several more are coming
The Office of Strategic Capital signed a conditional loan commitment of up to $820 million with Performance Drone Works, topping the $725 million it committed to Energy Fuels in June. OSC director David A. Lorch said several more drone component producers will get loan commitments. PDW is private, and the one public company with a stake in it owns less than 1 percent of its own market cap in PDW preferred.
All seven Magnificent Seven stocks fell today. Here's where that money actually went (July 23, 2026)
All seven Magnificent Seven stocks were red by late morning Thursday, led by Tesla's 14% drop on an earnings miss and Alphabet's close-to-7% slide despite beating estimates, on another capex raise. Amazon and Meta sold off too ahead of next week's reports. The money didn't just leave, it rotated: into defense on Lockheed's earnings beat, and out of quantum, SaaS and space.
The Close, July 14: IBM lost a quarter of its value, and SK Hynix's Nasdaq stock jumped 27%
IBM lost about a quarter of its value in a single session after a weak preliminary report, and the damage spread across enterprise software. SK Hynix's brand-new Nasdaq stock went the other way, jumping 27% on a day chips broadly rallied.
The government is banking on drones becoming the future of warfare. The stocks got crushed anyway
Ukraine is fighting with cheap, disposable drones and the Pentagon wants nearly $75 billion for unmanned systems next year. AeroVironment, Kratos, Red Cat, Ondas, Unusual Machines, and AIRO are all down 45% to 65% anyway. Here's why.
Drone stocks jump: AeroVironment AVAV, Unusual Machines UMAC, Ondas ONDS and Red Cat RCAT rally
Drone stocks jumped on June 30, 2026 after AeroVironment's (AVAV) beat, with AeroVironment up about 20% and Unusual Machines (UMAC) about 15%. Beaten-down names Ondas (ONDS) and Red Cat (RCAT) finally bounced, even as Washington and Beijing escalate a drone trade war.
AeroVironment (AVAV) jumps after hours on a Q4 beat and raise (June 29)
AeroVironment (AVAV) beat on both lines in fiscal Q4, with adjusted EPS of $1.84 and revenue of $641.6M up about 133% year over year, then guided fiscal 2027 well above. The stock jumped roughly 15% after hours.
AeroVironment (AVAV) reports earnings tonight, and drone stocks Red Cat (RCAT) and Ondas (ONDS) rally with it
AeroVironment (AVAV) reports earnings after Monday's close, and the small-cap drone group is rallying with it, led by Red Cat (RCAT) up about 8%, with Ondas (ONDS) and Draganfly (DPRO) higher.