DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares just capped off a strong month of outperformance only to kick off the new month with a bang.
Shares in the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO) drone defence company closed out January trading for $3.32. When the closing bell sounded on 27 February, shares were changing hands for $3.62 each.
This saw the DroneShield share price up 9.0% in February, outpacing the 3.7% monthly gain posted by the ASX 200.
As for March, halfway through the first trading day of the new month, shares are trading for $4.02 each, up a whopping 11.1%.
With no fresh news out from the company today, investors look to be bidding up the stock on the heels of the United States and Israel's attack on Iran. With Iran responding to the attacks, and both sides deploying plenty of drones, the market appears to be pricing in material demand growth for drone defence technologies.
Now, here's what sent the stock higher in February.
Image source: Getty Images
How DroneShield shares raced ahead of the ASX 200 in February
The ASX 200 drone defence stock enjoyed a big lift from two price sensitive releases in the month just gone.
On 25 February, DroneShield shares closed the day up 12.6% following the release of the company's full calendar year 2025 results.
Among the highlights, the company achieved a 276% year-on-year increase in revenue to $216.5 million. And earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) swung to a positive $4.5 million, following a loss of $8.6 million reported in 2024.
On the bottom line, DroneShield's profit after tax of $3.5 million was up 367% from the prior year.
Investor interest in DroneShield shares also looks to have been piqued by the company's reported $2.3 billion sales pipeline. That's up 92% increase over the last 12 months.
DroneShield independent non-executive chairman Peter James said on the day:
FY 2026 already has $104 million in secured revenue of which $22 million has been recognised to date. Secured SaaS in FY 2026 is at $22 million, of which $2 million has been recognised to date, and SaaS expected to increase further as additional sales are secured.
What else did the ASX 200 drone defence company report?
DroneShield shares closed up another 8.9% the following day, 26 February.
That big boost followed news that the company had inked six new contracts with a western military end-customer. The contracts are valued at a total of $21.7 million.
Pleasingly, DroneShield revealed that it had all the required items for the new contracts in stock. The company expects to deliver the orders in the first quarter of 2026.
