There's a little ASX stock that's been shooting the lights out over the last six months.
And it's outperforming again today.
The company in question is ASX tech stock Droneshield Ltd (ASX: DRO).
While the All Ordinaries Index (ASX: XAO) is down 0.9% in afternoon trade today, the Droneshield share price is up 0.86% at 58.5 cents per share.
As you can see in the above chart, that puts this little ASX stock up almost 80% over the past six months, racing ahead of the 4% gain posted by the All Ords over this same period.
And it sees Droneshield shares not just nudging one-year highs but a new all-time high of 61 cents in early afternoon trade on Monday.
What's been going right for Droneshield shares?
With a current market cap of some $361 million, the booming ASX stock finds itself offering the right suite of products at the right time.
From Russia's war in Ukraine to the increasing hostilities in the Middle East, militaries and paramilitaries across the world are increasingly turning to drones to spy on and attack their enemies.
Even the Australian Navy has come under review for its potential vulnerability to drone attacks.
Atop this rising demand for effective drone defence products, the ASX stock is also benefiting from the massive potential on offer from the artificial intelligence (AI) revolution. Droneshield has been actively embracing AI to increase the efficiency of its anti-drone technologies.
And it all looks to be coming together.
Droneshield reported a record $48 million of customer cash receipts and grants for the December quarter.
This helped the ASX stock book its first profit (before tax) of $4 million for the calendar year 2023, up from a loss of $2.9 million the prior year.
Is the ASX stock poised for an earnings boom?
Looking at what may impact the Droneshield share price in the year ahead, the company reported a $30 million contracted order backlog coming into 2024. And it has a sales pipeline of more than $400 million.
The little ASX stock also kicked off the new year with a cash balance of $58 million.
And with the demand for effective drone defence systems only likely to increase over the year ahead, analysts broadly believe that Droneshield's earnings and revenue are set to lift off as well.
According to consensus forecasts (courtesy of Simply Wall Street), as at 30 June 2023, Droneshield had annual revenue of $24.8 million and earnings of $1.1 million.
The consensus forecast is for revenue to surge to $80.3 million per year and earnings to soar to $22.9 million per year by 31 December 2024.
If Droneshield is able to achieve that level of earnings growth, this ASX stock could continue to race ahead of the broader market.
