The DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) share price is flying higher today.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) drone defence company closed yesterday trading for 61.5 cents. In morning trade on Wednesday, shares are swapping hands for 65.0 apiece, up 5.7%.
For some context, the ASX 300 is up 0.1% at this same time.
This outperformance comes following the release of DroneShield's quarterly results covering the three months to 31 December.
Read on for the highlights.
DroneShield share price soars on growth outlook
ASX investors are bidding up the DroneShield share price after the company reported that the December quarter brought 2024 revenue to $57.5 million, up 6.3% from 2023.
Management noted that revenue growth in 2024 was lower than anticipated "due to a number of pipeline projects taking longer to complete than expected".
The company pointed to a strong start to the new year, with $36 million of revenue already received or under committed purchase orders in 2025. DroneShield said it also has a $33.4 million contracted backlog, which it expects to receive as cash in the first half of 2025.
DroneShield reported having more than $200 million in inventory, completed and in progress, enabling it to deliver new products on short notice.
The company also plans to keep growing its staff numbers to 330 by mid-2025. Its current team of 263 includes 197 engineers. DroneShield credited its team with "driving technology development with quarterly AI software updates and 2-3 yearly hardware development cycles".
Looking at what might impact the DroneShield share price in the years ahead, the company cited its "robust pipeline" of $1.2 billion.
According to management:
This corresponds to defined opportunities with current visibility in 2025 and 2026. This does not include meaningful opportunities where DroneShield expects to play a role, where it is challenging to estimate dollar value due to the early stage of the project.
The United States was a major customer in 2023 and 2024, accounting for around 70% of DroneShield's revenues in both years. DroneShield said it expected this dynamic to continue in 2025 and beyond, noting its growing customer base across numerous US government agencies, including military and non-military agencies.
Management also anticipates a boost in business with Donald Trump taking back the White House. It said it expected to see "additional investment into the US border security, defence and law enforcement", which should benefit drone sales.
On the balance sheet, the ASX 300 drone defence stock held $220.6 million in cash as at 31 December, up from the $57.9 million reported in December 2023.
With today's intraday moves factored in, the DroneShield share price is up 51% over 12 months.
