Unusual Machines, which makes components certified under the National Defense Authorization Act, reported second-quarter revenue of $16.7 million on 6 August, up 687 per cent year on year and 106 per cent on the quarter, with gross margin recovering to 34.7 per cent1. Headcount ran from 81 at the end of 2025 to 141 by the first quarter and 240 by the close of the second. On 12 August the company dismissed its small regional auditor and engaged Ernst & Young, recording no disagreements, which is the audit standard institutional investors and federal contracting officers look for before writing large cheques. Chief executive Allan Evans describes the third quarter as a deliberate pause to build capacity, so the growth rate is not a trend line.
Red Cat Holdings filed the same day with revenue of $20.2 million, up 527 per cent, at a gross margin of 16.1 per cent2. Gross profit on that revenue came to about one dollar in six. Growth bought at that price is market share rather than profit, and it leaves less room to absorb an import bill that rises in September. Red Cat also confirmed completion of the Quaze Technologies wireless-recharging acquisition, still pending when the company raised capital in June, and confirmed that its Teal Drones subsidiary remains a finalist in the Pentagon's Gauntlet II build sprint.
One set of numbers cuts against the mood. Kratos reported unmanned-systems backlog of $374.6 million at the end of the second quarter, fractionally below the $375.4 million it held three months earlier, while lifting full-year group guidance to between $1.750 billion and $1.810 billion on 30.5 per cent growth driven by rockets and turbines3. The company has taken 106,000 extra square feet in Oklahoma City for Valkyrie and Firejet production. Floor space went in; the drone order book behind it did not move.
