Why AeroVironment Stock Is Rocking Today
Tiny defense-contracting company AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) flapped its wings and flew higher in early trading on the Nasdaq Tuesday, rising 13.5% through 10:45 a.m. ET. Investors can thank an upgrade to strong buy from investment-bank Raymond James (RJ) for the move.
This is somewhat surprising, as it comes less than a month after AeroVironment disappointed investors with a sizable 20% earnings miss in its fiscal Q3 2023 earnings report. But as it turns out, Raymond James isn't too concerned about 2023 earnings for AeroVironment, preferring to look ahead to fiscal 2024 instead. And for AeroVironment, fiscal 2024 could be grand.
Already, the company is outperforming analyst expectations for sales growth -- which was up 49% year over year last month. (It was only AeroVironment's profits on those sales that disappointed.) Moreover, the company's management pointed out that its backlog in Q3 grew 83%. This was an impressive number and indicative of even stronger revenue (and perhaps earnings?) growth to come.
Source Fool.com
