Aerovironment Inc
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AeroVironment Inc. May 2020 181 W. Huntington Drive, Suite 202 Philip Finnegan Monrovia, CA 91016 Director, Corporate Analysis Tel: (626) 357-9983 (703) 385-1992 ext. 105 Fax: (626) 359-9628 [email protected] Internet: www.aerovironment.com Analytical Overview Strategy: AeroVironment has made Army ID/IQ task order dollars in The company is known for having a key breakthroughs in building up mini-UAS since December 2012. strongly innovative corporate cul- new business opportunities as it de- ture. Management has been aggres- AeroVironment's reputation and cus- velops the next generation of mini- sive in ensuring that proposals have tomer intimacy give it a position in UAS systems and enters the low cost, the backing they need to win compe- US military mini-UAVs that make it long-endurance market. titions. challenging for any competitor to The company's strategy is to main- displace. The large inventories of its The company’s size appears to have tain its position as the dominant pro- existing systems make it difficult to been a strong advantage so far, ena- ducer of mini UAS for the US mili- purchase competitors' UAVs, which bling it to be nimble while maintain- tary while building a greater market require different training and logis- ing low overhead. It has repeatedly position in international, law en- tics. beat larger UAS companies to win all forcement, homeland security and five Department of Defense mini The company has done a good job of other civil UAS. It is also seeking to UAV programs of record. developing its product portfolio. The broaden its product range with a company has worked to develop its AeroVironment has a strong balance commercial UAS service and is UAS to be reliable and easy to use, sheet with no debt and considerable working with Japan's Softbank to de- with a common interface for multiple cash, short and long-term invest- velop a high-altitude, long-endur- UAS including the Puma, the Raven, ments. ance solar-powered UAS. and the Wasp. It also has worked to Weaknesses: AeroVironment's Strengths: AeroVironment has the ensure that they are designed with UAV business remains heavily de- enviable position of being an ex- manufacturing in mind. pendent on the US government with tremely strong competitor within the The company has been extremely 54% of sales going to the US govern- mini-UAS market space. successful in maintaining high levels ment in fiscal 2018. It has won five Department of De- of company-funded research and de- The company has intense interna- fense mini UAS programs of record velopment as well as customer- tional competition. Competitors such and it has gotten more than 90% of funded research. as Elbit Systems with its Skylark are Operating Income/Revenue Comparison Income from Operations Revenue Operating Margin 14% $45 $400 Years ($ Millions) ($ Millions) $40 12% $35 $350 10% $30 $300 $25 8% $20 6% $250 $15 4% $10 $200 2% $5 $0 $150 0% 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 2016 2017 2018 2019 2020 Defense & Aerospace Companies Briefing ©Teal Group Corporation AeroVironment Inc. Page 2 proving to be tough competition out- on an IDIQ contract that will enable red, targeting, geospatial intelli- side the United States. it to provide the US military with its gence, hyperspectral imagery, and Lethal Miniature Aerial Munition communications relay. The company is finding it difficult to System. AeroVironment already is move into micro UAVs. FLIR Sys- Miniaturization of payloads also of- selling its Switchblade, a man-porta- tems is providing to be its leading fers potential to increase the useful- ble, lethal mini UAV. The Switch- competitor in these extremely small ness of AeroVironment's UAVs. blade loitering munition offers po- systems. New payloads could be added as well tential as a UAV that can hit its target such as synthetic aperture radar for Barriers to entry are much lower for with limited collateral damage. The the Puma. mini-UAS than for larger systems. UAV is configured so that it can be As a result, many countries are seek- scaled up to attack larger targets such Deliveries of Puma have rapidly in- ing to build their own systems. as vehicles rather than just troops. creased in recent years with deliver- ies to US Special Operations Com- The company's ability to predict fu- In addition, the US military is now mand. ture sales and profitability are lim- planning new procurement programs ited. The nature of the company's that AeroVironment is pursuing. US homeland security sales are business tends to be more uncertain They include the Army Soldier promising over the long-term alt- than other defense companies be- Borne Sensor and the Short Range hough near term they remain uncer- cause it is difficult to predict the rate Reconnaissance programs. tain due to restrictions on the use of of adoption of its systems, some of UAS in civil aerospace. For the Army Soldier Borne Sensor which are new and revolutionary. It program, AeroVironment is offering AeroVironment has been working on is also dependent on a relatively nar- its Snipe, a nano UAS the size of a penetrating the low-cost, high-alti- row range of military products and, cell phone that can be worn on a sol- tude, long-endurance UAS market an noted, is heavily dependent on the dier's uniform. The Snipe uses the also known as High Altitude Pseudo US military budget. small control station as the other mini Satellites (HAPS). HAPS offers con- Opportunities: The divestiture of UAS built by AeroVironment. siderable potential to provide persis- the company's electric car charging tent surveillance and communica- The prospect of creating families of business makes the company a pure- tions coverage at any point on the systems for customers is an attractive play UAS company. That will enable globe at a fraction of the price of sat- opportunity for AeroVironment. management to focus its attention ellites. and resources on the business. The Marine Corps has already de- Commercial solutions could offer cided to incorporate the Raven, Puma AeroVironment is successfully di- AeroVironment the potential for ex- and Wasp into its force as a family of versifying the company's revenue panding sales of its UAVs as well as systems. streams. In fiscal 2020, the company potential service offerings providing derived 61% of its work from mini- Spiral upgrades for deployed systems turnkey UAS operations in oil and UAS. The Tactical Missile business and new production also offer poten- gas, mining, agriculture and other in- (loitering munitions such as Switch- tial for the company. The Raven was dustries. blade) accounted for 17%. The com- earlier upgraded with higher effi- Threats: AeroVironment is facing pany's High Altitude Pseudo Satellite ciency propulsion motors and higher cuts in demand for its UAVs as the work, a new revenue stream, ac- resolution cameras. Its latest upgrade US military has reduced involvement counted for another 17%. is of a new modular, gimbaled sensor in overseas conflicts in Iraq and Af- payload for the Raven. The new pay- International sales offer considerable ghanistan. The military deferred ad- load will improve the UAV's video potential. AeroVironment has been ditional purchases of mini-UAVs due and provide better target tracking ca- very successful in boosting its ex- to the large numbers already in in- pability. Now the Puma is undergo- ports of UAS over the past three ventory and the diminished needs as ing spiral upgrades. years with fully 45% of sales coming fewer troops are deployed in con- from international. AeroVironment’s The US Army has been considering flicts. position as dominant supplier to the new missions for Ravens such as de- AeroVironment’s dominant position US military offers promise in build- tecting and identifying chemical, bi- mean that some within the US mili- ing a position with allied militaries ological or radiological threats. Other tary would like to see greater compe- such as the United Kingdom or Aus- potential missions include: signals tition. This may offer some potential tralia. intelligence, multispectral imagery, for companies interested in the sec- short wave infrared, long wave infra- In another important opportunity, tor, such as Lockheed Martin or Is- AeroVironment has won a position rael's Elbit Systems, to emerge as Defense & Aerospace Companies Briefing ©Teal Group Corporation AeroVironment Inc. Page 3 competitors in the mini UAS seg- and US border security work hinge The privacy debate has had created ment. on continued progress by the Federal serious problems in the development Aviation Administration in opening of a public safety market. Israeli companies offer intense com- US airspace. petition overseas. A large number of Business: AeroVironment is the national companies compete for mini As the company moves into the de- main provider of mini UAVs to the UAS contracts in their own countries. velopment of high-altitude, long-en- US Army, Marine Corps and the durance systems it faces competition Navy. The US Army has used the Ra- FLIR Systems is emerging as a seri- from considerably larger companies. ven extensively for convoy surveil- ous threat in mini-UAS and nano- Airbus already operates a system lance, perimeter protection and battle UAS. It purchased Aeryon Systems, while Boeing and BAE Systems are surveillance in Iraq and Afghanistan. a a manufacturer of mini-UAS sys- working to develop their own sys- tems, as well as Prox Dynamics, a AeroVironment is now a pure play tems. manufacturer of nano-UAS systems. UAS company. In the fiscal 2020 In addition, in January 2019, it beat Research that keeps AeroVironment year ended April 30, 2020, AeroVi- AeroVironment to win the first major on the cutting edge also is expensive ronment’s sales were distributed as order of nano-UAS by the US Army.