The White House signals more drone deals within two weeks. So why did drone stocks drop today? (AVAV, UMAC, ONDS)
The White House signaled more drone funding deals within two weeks at its first 'Drone Dominance' meeting on August 20. AeroVironment, Unusual Machines, Ondas, Red Cat and Kratos all fell the same day anyway, in what looks like a broader selloff tied to rising bond yields, not the meeting.
Two drone stocks announced NFL deals over one weekend. Ondas (ONDS) got hired. Red Cat (RCAT) bought signage.
Ondas (ONDS) subsidiary Sentrycs will run counter-drone security for the Jacksonville Jaguars. Red Cat (RCAT) signed a Washington Commanders sponsorship. One deal pays the company, the other costs it.
Kratos (KTOS), AeroVironment (AVAV) and Ondas (ONDS) jumped at least 16% in two weeks. All three are still down this year.
Lockheed Martin, Palantir and Kratos all beat estimates and raised guidance inside twelve days, and every drone maker we track gained at least 16% over the two weeks. Kratos and AeroVironment are still the worst performers in the group for 2026.
A drone motor costs $12 from China and $100 from America. The Pentagon just committed $820 million to close the gap.
The Pentagon committed $1.3 billion to drones last week and none of it reached the stocks that rallied. The $820 million loan went to privately held Performance Drone Works, and it was for motors, batteries and control electronics rather than aircraft. The majority of drones on the Pentagon's own approved list still run Chinese motors, because a Chinese one costs $12 and an American one costs $100.
The Pentagon committed $820 million to a drone company you can't buy, and said several more are coming
The Office of Strategic Capital signed a conditional loan commitment of up to $820 million with Performance Drone Works, topping the $725 million it committed to Energy Fuels in June. OSC director David A. Lorch said several more drone component producers will get loan commitments. PDW is private, and the one public company with a stake in it owns less than 1 percent of its own market cap in PDW preferred.
All seven Magnificent Seven stocks fell today. Here's where that money actually went (July 23, 2026)
All seven Magnificent Seven stocks were red by late morning Thursday, led by Tesla's 14% drop on an earnings miss and Alphabet's close-to-7% slide despite beating estimates, on another capex raise. Amazon and Meta sold off too ahead of next week's reports. The money didn't just leave, it rotated: into defense on Lockheed's earnings beat, and out of quantum, SaaS and space.
The House passed a $1.15 trillion defense bill. I think Lockheed Martin (LMT) is due for a bounce, and tomorrow's earnings are the real test.
The House passed a $1.15 trillion defense authorization bill Wednesday and defense stocks rallied, but not evenly. Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman are still down 25% to 30% from their 2026 highs, RTX and General Dynamics already recovered, and Lockheed reports earnings Thursday morning.
I let Claude AI trade $100 on Robinhood, week 4: It's 0 for 4, then it passed on IREN's 17% jump, and watched it run higher
Claude AI is 0 for 4 with my $100 and the account is down to $74.59. On Monday it built an order for IREN at $39.45, then found that the same stock had popped on the same news back on July 6 and given back 23%, and walked away. IREN ran higher without it.
I let Claude AI trade $100 on Robinhood, week 3: it sold MSTR right at the low and it gapped up 6% the next morning
The AI running my $100 Robinhood account cut MicroStrategy (MSTR) at $90.93 on Monday. Tuesday morning MSTR gapped up about 6%. It drives me insane, but the deal was that Claude makes the calls, so I am letting it ride.
The government is banking on drones becoming the future of warfare. The stocks got crushed anyway
Ukraine is fighting with cheap, disposable drones and the Pentagon wants nearly $75 billion for unmanned systems next year. AeroVironment, Kratos, Red Cat, Ondas, Unusual Machines, and AIRO are all down 45% to 65% anyway. Here's why.
Bullish Watch, week of July 13: the market panicked over a Meta headline, and got it wrong
This week's watchlist, updated through Tuesday: Nebius gave back its early bounce on a data-center headline unrelated to its business, Kraken Robotics is holding up best of the five, Intel swung from a 6% drop to a 4.5% rally in two days, and Rocket Lab and Harmonic are still finding their footing.
I let Claude AI trade $100 on Robinhood, end of week 2: it dumped RCAT at a 13% loss and bought MSTR instead of anything I wanted
Claude, the AI running my $100 Robinhood agentic account, finally cut Red Cat at a 13% loss. Then it ignored every discounted ticker I suggested and put nearly the whole account into MicroStrategy. End of week 2 letting Claude trade my money.
My $100 Claude AI trade in RCAT: still holding, week 2
The Robinhood Agentic AI's first pick, Red Cat (RCAT), is down about 5% heading into week 2. Here is why I am not selling, the real drone-program news that came out over the holiday, and where the cut line and target still sit.
Ondas (ONDS) buys DZYNE for $875 million: bigger platform, more dilution
Ondas (ONDS) is buying DZYNE Technologies for $875.8 million, mostly in stock, and raised its 2026 revenue guidance to at least $525 million. It's also the biggest dilution event yet in a year of stock-funded acquisitions. Here's what the deal means and what to watch next.
I let Claude AI trade $100 of my money and it bought Red Cat (RCAT)
I funded Robinhood's new Agentic AI account with $100 and let Claude trade for me. Its first pick was Red Cat (RCAT) at $10.68, an Army drone stock I would not have grabbed myself. Two days in, it is green, and I still cannot fully explain the pick. My honest, slightly humbling take.
Drone stocks jump: AeroVironment AVAV, Unusual Machines UMAC, Ondas ONDS and Red Cat RCAT rally
Drone stocks jumped on June 30, 2026 after AeroVironment's (AVAV) beat, with AeroVironment up about 20% and Unusual Machines (UMAC) about 15%. Beaten-down names Ondas (ONDS) and Red Cat (RCAT) finally bounced, even as Washington and Beijing escalate a drone trade war.
AeroVironment (AVAV) jumps after hours on a Q4 beat and raise (June 29)
AeroVironment (AVAV) beat on both lines in fiscal Q4, with adjusted EPS of $1.84 and revenue of $641.6M up about 133% year over year, then guided fiscal 2027 well above. The stock jumped roughly 15% after hours.
AeroVironment (AVAV) reports earnings tonight, and drone stocks Red Cat (RCAT) and Ondas (ONDS) rally with it
AeroVironment (AVAV) reports earnings after Monday's close, and the small-cap drone group is rallying with it, led by Red Cat (RCAT) up about 8%, with Ondas (ONDS) and Draganfly (DPRO) higher.