William Blair Forecasts Weaker Earnings for AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV) – Research analysts at William Blair decreased their FY2025 EPS estimates for shares of AeroVironment in a research note issued on Wednesday, March 5th. William Blair analyst L. Dipalma now anticipates that the aerospace company will earn $3.05 per share for the year, down from their previous estimate of $3.34. William Blair currently has a “Outperform” rating on the stock. The consensus estimate for AeroVironment’s current full-year earnings is $3.38 per share.

AeroVironment (NASDAQ:AVAV) last released its earnings results on Wednesday, December 4th. The aerospace company reported $0.47 earnings per share (EPS) for the quarter, missing analysts’ consensus estimates of $0.76 by ($0.29). The business had revenue of $188.46 million for the quarter, compared to analyst estimates of $181.80 million. AeroVironment had a return on equity of 8.12% and a net margin of 6.39%. AeroVironment’s quarterly revenue was up 4.2% compared to the same quarter last year. During the same quarter last year, the company earned $0.97 earnings per share.

A number of other equities research analysts have also weighed in on AVAV. Robert W. Baird reduced their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $220.00 to $146.00 and set an “outperform” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. Jefferies Financial Group reduced their price objective on shares of AeroVironment from $230.00 to $190.00 and set a “buy” rating on the stock in a report on Wednesday. One research analyst has rated the stock with a hold rating, six have assigned a buy rating and one has given a strong buy rating to the company. According to MarketBeat, the stock currently has an average rating of “Buy” and a consensus target price of $202.40.

AeroVironment Price Performance

AeroVironment stock opened at $132.33 on Friday. The firm has a market cap of $3.73 billion, a PE ratio of 76.05 and a beta of 0.42. AeroVironment has a 52-week low of $110.07 and a 52-week high of $236.60. The company has a quick ratio of 3.36, a current ratio of 4.61 and a debt-to-equity ratio of 0.02. The company’s 50 day moving average is $163.87 and its two-hundred day moving average is $183.69.

Hedge Funds Weigh In On AeroVironment

A number of institutional investors have recently modified their holdings of the company. Vanguard Group Inc. raised its position in shares of AeroVironment by 1.2% in the fourth quarter. Vanguard Group Inc. now owns 3,098,822 shares of the aerospace company’s stock valued at $476,878,000 after buying an additional 35,543 shares during the last quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. increased its position in AeroVironment by 9.4% during the fourth quarter. Baillie Gifford & Co. now owns 2,135,280 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $328,598,000 after purchasing an additional 183,887 shares during the last quarter. State Street Corp grew its stake in AeroVironment by 0.5% during the third quarter. State Street Corp now owns 1,582,871 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $317,366,000 after buying an additional 7,471 shares during the period. Geode Capital Management LLC grew its stake in AeroVironment by 3.1% during the fourth quarter. Geode Capital Management LLC now owns 654,024 shares of the aerospace company’s stock worth $100,670,000 after buying an additional 19,835 shares during the period. Finally, Alyeska Investment Group L.P. purchased a new stake in AeroVironment during the fourth quarter worth approximately $93,759,000. Institutional investors and hedge funds own 86.38% of the company’s stock.

About AeroVironment

AeroVironment, Inc designs, develops, produces, delivers, and supports a portfolio of robotic systems and related services for government agencies and businesses in the United States and internationally. It operates through Small Unmanned Aircraft Systems (SUAS), Tactical Missile System (TMS), Medium Unmanned Aircraft Systems (MUAS), and High Altitude Pseudo-Satellite Systems (HAPS) segments.