Here's Why This AI Defence Drone Platform Provider Stock Jumped 26% on Thursday

Shares of Ondas Holdings (Nasdaq:ONDS), a leader of AI autonomous drone and private wireless solutions and networks, climbed nearly 26% on Thursday to $9.21 (£6.85) per share after the company said it placed an initial order of 500 Wasp drones from Rift Dynamics for distribution in the US defence market via its American Robotics subsidiary. Note that Ondas is a strategic investor in Norway-based Rift Dynamics, which innovates defence technology focused on affordable and attritable drone systems for the military.

The Wasp is a combat-ready, attritable drone system designed to meet the growing demand from the U.S. Department of War for 'mass affordable' strike and perimeter defence platforms.

'Leveraging Rift's NDAA-compliant design and Kitron's proven global manufacturing expertise, Ondas is able to rapidly scale production and deliver thousands of units per month,' Eric Brock, chairman and CEO of Ondas, said in a press release.

US-based defence electronics maker, Kitron, will oversee the production of the first 500 Wasp units. Kitron's distributed network offers Rift and Ondas with the capability to rapidly scale to over 20,000 units monthly within six months of order placement. With US distribution rights secured via American Robotics, Ondas is actively pursuing the US Department of War's program bids and expects to receive its initial deliveries of Wasp systems in Q4.

The Ondas stock price is up 730% in the past six months. The company garnered massive investor attention after it was recently added to the S&P Global BMI Index. Simultaneously, investors shared a positive outlook on the company onboarding Brigadier General Patrick Huston to its Ondas Autonomous Systems Advisory Board.

Last week, the company also secured a $3.5 million (£2.6 million) order from a major defence company, which included the delivery of multiple units of Apeiro's rugged unmanned ground vehicles and designated mission payloads, which are designed to enhance robotic capabilities for security, logistics, and tactical operations. This new order follows Ondas' acquisition of Apeiro in August, which introduced advanced ground robotics and proprietary fibre-optic communication technologies to the Ondas portfolio

'We are proud to secure this important order under the Apeiro brand, which has quickly become a powerful innovation engine within Ondas,' Brock had said in a separate press release.

The stock's massive upward swing could indicate that investors are recognising the company's longer-term growth potential, especially as it gains credibility in the defence tech space and broader market indexes.

Analysts believe that the ongoing ramp in Ondas' market presence and the 'large greenfield opportunity' will support further upward revisions in earnings and valuation multiples. Despite recent share price growth, analysts view the stock's growth cycle as still in its early innings, with a large, near-term addressable market exceeding $5 billion (£3.7 billion).

However, rising operating costs and network deployment delays also pose a risk to the growing investor optimism that has fueled Ondas' recent valuation surge.

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