2023 should bring more exciting news across the board for publicly traded drone stocks. ALPP, AVAV, DPRO, RCAT, and UAVS. All are fighting to stay ahead of the trends. The corporations are trying to execute what they consider to be winning strategies. Hopefully the stars will align for the market this year and investors will have as much excitement as the consumers. Customers are benefitting from a vast array of exciting drone products. Are these some drone stocks to buy?
ALPP
Alpine 4 has two subsidiaries headed to Las Vegas this month for industry shows. RCA is premiering the solid state battery on January 5-8th, 2023 at the Consumer Electronics Show. CES bills itself as “the most influential tech event in the world.” RCA released a video to commemorate the event. The video shows the many different applications for the battery. The configurations of the battery seem to be very useful across a wide array of products: Home, RV, auto, and consumer tech.
Vayu Aerospace will be attending the SHOT show in Vegas, January 17-20th. The shooting, hunting, outdoor trade show attracts consumers from over 100 countries. Vayu will be introducing their new drone, the Mitigator, at the show. The drone is purpose built for law enforcement and military operations and require little training. The drones can be outfitted with any number of useful add-ons such as flash bangs. As the name indicates, the goal is to “mitigate” any issues, even if that means the drone is disposable. Check out information on the Mitigator and other drones in the lineup at the newly updated website.
Alpine 4 information updates are limited at the moment due to the corporation switching auditors over to RSM US LLP. Financial statements are being updated and will hopefully be released before the 60 day extension ends, on or before January 15th. I suspect that the combination of the different businesses by the previous auditors was not as beneficial as what RSM envisions. RSM is one of the best in the world and I hope that they have been working with Alpine 4 to take the corporation to the next level. Different subsidiaries working together to create synergy requires SOX compliance to assure that the financial accounting between subsidiaries is accurate. SOX compliance is necessary for securing large government contracts.
AVAV
Aerovironment is the undisputed biggest player of these 5 drone stocks with a roughly $2.2 Billion market cap. The revenue for the previous quarter was over $111M. AVAV has released a new all electric helicopter style drone called the Vapor 55 MX. The Switchblade 300 and 600 continue to be in high demand.
Aerovironment achieved what is being dubbed as “super success” in Ukraine. The videos of the switchblade have gone viral. This corporation is pretty much expected to print money by the public. Investors are currently paying 1400 p/e (price to earnings) ratio. The portfolio of products immense. Check out the website as the information is quite extensive. If other drone companies are able to find the backing and establish a proven track record of making profits, the market should also respond accordingly. As such deals are being inked across the globe. $48M contract secured with Lithuania.
DPRO
Draganfly has been busy. The corporation has over 30 patents. Successfully releasing new products that have found traction around the world, with much accomplished in Ukraine. The Commander 3 XL has been called the “Swiss Army Knife” of drones. Their heavy heavy lift drone can handle up to 66lbs/30kg. LIDAR, AKA light detection and ranging, is another breakthrough for the company.
The list of partners includes many known entities. Among the list is Aerovironment, the drone industry should be new and large enough to allow collaboration among participants to encourage faster sector growth.
RCAT
Red Cat Holdings released their earnings. The corp. did sell off their consumer products division for $18M, which is going to provide capital to focus on stronger growth opportunities. Red Cat has previously announced their ability for a single operator to control 4 drones. The corp. ended the year with $32M cash and is expanding operations. Border Patrol ordered $1M in Teal drones and Red Cat hopes the contract will yield around $90M in total. The company reported 40% revenue growth.
UAVS
AgEagle does have some interesting product launches. The eBee lineup grows with the eBee Vision. The fixed wing drone was purpose built for providing real-time info to the operations team. Weighing in at less than 3.5lbs, the drone is capable of a 90 minute flight time. As mentioned previously, the eBee has been approved for flight over people and highways in the U.S.
AgEagle offers software called Measure control system. This recurring revenue might be good for the UAVS Stock price in the future. This software can be accessed starting at $69 a month. This application allows pilots to track their flight logs. Useful data is collected and and accessible at user’s fingertips. Pilots are easily able to be in full compliance with all laws and regulations. Autonomous flight operations will be able to monitored through the web interface. Subscription based revenue is often valued by investors, examples including Netflix.
Continue to follow Drone Flyer for UAVS stock news and other interesting drone stocks.
In conclusion, hopefully 2023 will be a year where investors of drone companies are rewarded. The growth of the drone industry seems assured and by all accounts appears to be accelerating. Is 2023 gonna be the year drone stocks take flight?
