AeroVironment posted full-year revenue of $1.98 billion, up 141%, on 29 June1, eight days after telling the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) that an earlier quarterly loss had been understated by $87.3 million2. AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) is one of the oldest US military-drone makers, now spanning loitering munitions, reconnaissance drones and directed-energy weapons. Fourth-quarter revenue reached $641.6 million, up 133%, of which the $4.1 billion BlueHalo acquisition contributed $282.3 million; full-year bookings hit $2.7 billion.
The restatement, filed 22 June, corrected a goodwill-impairment error in the company's Space segment tied to the stop-work on its BADGER phased-array antenna under the government's SCAR programme. AeroVironment declared a new material weakness in its financial controls. The error was non-cash, with no effect on revenue or cash from operations.
Two directors nominated by Arlington Capital Partners under the BlueHalo deal resigned on 17 June; a week later the company appointed William J. Lynn III, a former US deputy secretary of defense, and cut the board from ten seats to nine3. Then, on 1 July, the US Army handed AeroVironment a $500 million, three-year layered counter-uncrewed aircraft systems (C-UAS) contract spanning the Titan detection line, the LOCUST X3 laser and the Freedom Eagle interceptor4, part of a counter-drone procurement wave that reached $29 billion in the first quarter of 2026 alone.
BlueHalo drove the record top line and the segment writedown at once, the cost of buying growth faster than the books can absorb it. Gross margin fell to 32% from 36% as the acquisition's service-heavy revenue diluted AeroVironment's historic hardware margins.
