DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares are having a very strong start to the session.
In morning trade, the counter drone technology company's shares are up 20% to $2.15.
Why are DroneShield shares rocketing?
Investors have been scrambling to buy the company's shares this morning after it revealed that it has secured the largest order in its history.
According to the release, the company has received a package of three standalone follow-on contracts worth $61.6 million. These are from its privately owned in-country European reseller that is contractually required to distribute the products to a European military customer.
The release notes that the contracts are for handheld detection and counter-drone systems and associated accessories.
Management highlights that this is the largest single order in DroneShield's history. Incredibly, it is also larger than the entire $57.5 million revenue it recorded for the whole of 2024.
Importantly, DroneShield's recent production and inventory holding expansion means that this order is expected to be fully delivered throughout the third quarter of 2025. Cash payment for the order is expected across both the third and fourth quarters. It notes that no additional material conditions need to be satisfied.
DroneShield has previously received a single contract from this reseller for this specific customer in April 2024 totalling $0.5 million.
So, this certainly is a big jump. But the company points out that over the past 24 months, DroneShield's reseller involved in this package of contracts has progressively increased orders from single evaluation units to multi-million dollar contracts. The good news is that all imports, deliveries, and payments were handled on-time and in a highly professional manner.
Who is this customer?
For obvious reasons, DroneShield has not revealed who the end customer is and has defended its decision. Commenting on the unnamed customer, the company said:
DroneShield confirms that: it does not consider the identity of the counterparty/customer to be information that a reasonable person would expect to have a material effect on the price or value of the DroneShield's securities; and the announcement contains all material information relevant to assessing the impact of the contracts on the price or value of the DroneShield's securities, and is not misleading by omission.
DroneShield CEO, Oleg Vornik, adds:
In succession to the $32.2 million repeat order announced on 14 April 2025 for another customer, DroneShield products are now being purchased in material quantities. The scale and frequency of orders has been increasing as leading Military customers are moving from testing hardware to broader rollouts. DroneShield is well placed to meet the increasing demand.
What else?
In a separate presentation, the company provided an update on its performance so far in FY 2025. It revealed year to date secured revenues of $161 million and a sales pipeline valued at $2.41 billion. The former compares to $57.5 million in FY 2024 with over six months of the year remaining.
DroneShield's cash balance stood at $198.1 million at 20 June.
