DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares were in fine form in September.
During the month, the counter-drone technology company's shares rose a whopping 41%.
Image source: Getty Images
Why did DroneShield shares rocket last month?
There were a number of catalysts for this strong gain.
The first was news that the company's shares were joining the illustrious ASX 200 index at the September quarterly rebalance.
DroneShield's CEO, Oleg Vornik, explained why this was important. He said:
We are pleased to join the ranks of Australia's top companies in the S&P/ASX 200. This achievement reflects the strength of our business, the global demand for our counter-drone technology, and the strong support of our shareholders. We believe this milestone will further enhance our visibility with institutional domestic and overseas investors and strengthen our platform for continued growth.
Another reason that investors were buying DroneShield shares was the release of a sales update in the middle of the month.
That update revealed that the company has surpassed 4,000 systems sold worldwide with the receipt of a package of two standalone contracts totalling $7.9 million for handheld systems for delivery to the U.S. Department of Defense.
Matt McCrann, U.S. CEO of DroneShield, commented:
Passing 4,000 systems in service is an important milestone for our team and our customers. It underlines the performance and dependability of our solutions in the field, and the trust placed in DroneShield by those who rely on them.
What else?
The big news that gave DroneShield shares late in the month was that the European Union is planning to build a drone wall across its eastern border.
Commenting on the news, Bell Potter said:
EU Defence Commissioner Andrius Kubilius says the bloc will build a "drone wall" along the eastern flank, integrating detection, tracking and interception to counter hostile UAVs. After recent airspace violations, EU defence ministers agreed to move from "discussion to concrete action", with a shared drone-detection network targeted within about a year, followed by deeper layers over time. Further details are expected at early-October EU meetings in Copenhagen and Brussels.
The market appears to believe that this bodes well for demand for DroneShield's offering and have been fighting to get hold of its shares since the news broke.
So much so, they are now up a further 23% in October, which has stretched its year to date gain to over 650%. And there's still almost a full quarter left to go!
