AeroVironment Inc (AVAV, Financial) has reported a strong start to the fiscal year 2024 with record first quarter results. The company's first quarter revenue rose to $152 million, marking a 40% increase year over year. This robust growth reflects the high demand for AVAV's market-leading intelligent unmanned systems both domestically and abroad. The company's funded backlog also rose to a new record of $540 million, up from $424 million at the start of the fiscal year. This backlog reflects $268 million of new bookings during the first quarter.
Acquisition of Tomahawk Robotics
AVAV recently announced its plans to acquire privately held Tomahawk Robotics. This acquisition will enable multidomain control of a wide variety of unmanned solutions from one user interface. The integration of Tomahawk's technology will streamline the operation of AVAV's family of unmanned systems, enabling users to achieve their missions with greater efficiency and simplicity. The transaction is expected to close later this quarter.
Financial Performance
The gross margin for the first quarter was $65.7 million, a significant increase of 95% compared to last fiscal year's $33.7 million. The gross margin as a percentage of sales also rose to 43% from 31% in fiscal year 2023. The company expects gross margins to remain strong in fiscal year 2024 as the revenue mix shifts to more favorable product sales. Overall, AVAV is on track to meet its increased outlook for the full year.
Outlook for Fiscal Year 2024
With a record backlog of orders and a strong first quarter, AVAV is increasing its guidance for fiscal year 2024. The company anticipates revenue of between $645 million and $675 million. Non-GAAP adjusted EBITDA is expected to be between $117 million and $127 million, representing about 18% of revenue. Net income guidance remains unchanged at $51 million to $59 million or $1.91 to $2.21 per diluted share. This is primarily due to increased R&D investments in support of the company's strong growth.
Conclusion
In conclusion, AVAV delivered record first quarter results, providing a solid start to fiscal year 2024. The acquisition of Tomahawk Robotics will further improve the outlook for interconnected unmanned solutions and opens new avenues for growth across the product portfolio. The fundamentals of the business look better than ever in the company's history, and AVAV is well positioned to continue its growth trajectory as Congress begins laying the groundwork for the fiscal year 2024 budget.
