Drone Stock AIRO Group (AIRO) Skyrockets 128% in Market Debut

The stock of AIRO Group (AIRO) is up 128% after the drone maker made its market debut on the Nasdaq Composite (NDAQ) exchange in New York.

AIRO Group is the latest defense-technology company to go public, and the company picked a good day to hold its initial public offering (IPO) with Israel and Iran firing missiles and drones at each other in an escalating military confrontation.

Based in Chicago, AIRO Group sold six million shares at $10 each as part of its IPO, giving the company an initial market value of $260 million and making it a micro-cap stock defined as any security with a market capitalization of less than $1 billion. However, the shares rose as high as $22.83 at noon hour on June 13, skyrocketing 128% above the IPO price and lifting AIRO’s market cap to $600 million.

Good Timing

AIRO Group makes both commercial and military drones, as well as robotics and avionics systems. The company’s sales in 2024 totaled $87 million, a small amount but double the amount achieved in 2023. The company competes against other defense-technology companies such as AeroVironment (AVAV) and Kratos Space & Security Solutions (KTOS).

While AIRO Group claims to have a diverse business, most of the company’s revenue comes from its drone business. The company’s AI-enabled Sky Watch drones are its most popular product and largely used for surveillance. Management at AIRO has said that they plan to use the money raised from the IPO to acquire additional drone technologies.

AIRO Group held its IPO on a day when stocks of U.S. defense contractors such as Lockheed Martin (LMT) and RTX Corp. (RTX) are up about 5% each as military tensions in the Middle East escalate.

Is AVAV Stock a Buy?

It’s too early for Wall Street to have ratings and price targets on AIRO Group stock. So instead we’ll look at rival AeroVironment. The stock of AeroVironment has a consensus Strong Buy rating among six Wall Street analysts. That rating is based on six Buy recommendations issued in the last three months. The average AVAV price target of $203 implies 3.68% upside from current levels.

Read more analyst ratings on AVAV stock