DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) and Core Lithium Ltd (ASX: CXO) shares have both captured plenty of investor interest over the past three years.
And both stocks are well-known for making some big daily moves. Sometimes higher. Sometimes lower.
But only one of them has raced ahead of the 24.5% three-year gains posted by the S&P/ASX 200 Index (ASX: XJO), as at 10 September, while the other has struggled to regain some sharp losses.
So which ASX share was the better buy?
Image source: Getty Images
Core Lithium shares playing catch up
Spoiler alert, it wasn't Core Lithium shares.
Three years ago, you may have been tempted to buy shares in the ASX All Ords lithium stock after the share price had crashed 76% over the prior 12 months.
On 8 September 2023, this saw the lithium miner trading for 37 cents a share.
So, for $10,000 you could have bought 27,027 Core Lithium shares.
In Thursday afternoon trade, those same shares were swapping hands for 38 cents apiece, up 2.7% in three years.
Meaning the 27,027 shares you bought three years ago for $10,000 are now worth $10,270.
Not a loss. But far from a gangbuster result either.
Investing $10,000 in DroneShield shares
Unlike Core Lithium shares, 8 September 2023 would have been an opportune time to snap up some DroneShield shares.
Three years ago, the ASX 200 drone defence stock was trading for 29 cents a share.
So, for $10,000 you could have picked up 34,482 shares.
On Thursday, the stock was trading for $1.69 a share, up an impressive 482.8% in three years.
And the 34,482 DroneShield shares you bought three years ago for $10,000 are now worth $58,275.
What's been happening in 2026?
While DroneShield is the clear winner over our three-year time frame, 2026 has delivered markedly different results.
Indeed, at the recent share prices, DroneShield shares have tumbled more than 49% year to date, while Core Lithium shares have surged more than 31% in 2026.
That strong performance from Core Lithium will see the stock return to the S&P/ASX 300 Index (ASX: XKO) commencing on 21 September as part of the S&P Dow Jones Indices September quarterly rebalance.
Investors have been piling back into Core Lithium shares as lithium prices recovered from their 2025 lows. That recovery has also seen the beaten down miner advance its previously mothballed Finniss Lithium Operation, located in the Northern Territory, back towards production.
Commenting on the project in July, managing director Paul Brown said:
Core is in a very strong operational and financial position, with the foundations in place to continue executing to plan and ample funding to advance Finniss to steady state production in 2028.
