Here at the Motley Fool, we've discussed DroneShield Ltd (ASX: DRO) shares quite a lot over the past 12 months. That's fair enough. Droneshield has been one of the All Ordinaries Index's (ASX: XAO) most conspicuous outperformers in recent history.
This is, after all, a company that has exploded by 660% since this time last year. And investors are looking at a 360% return over 2024 to date alone.
Of course, Droneshield shares' ascent has not come unprompted. This aerial defence solutions company has been posting some outstanding numbers in recent months. Investors were chuffed to see Droneshield reveal its first-ever profit back in February, covering the 2023 calendar year.
This saw the company post a 226% rise in revenues to $55.1 million. That was in addition to the maiden profit after tax of $9.3 million, which was a pleasing swing from the previous year's $900,000 loss.
Then, in April, Droneshield further delighted investors with its quarterly cash flow report. This report showed the company posting ten times more revenue over the three months to 31 March 2024 than it did in the same quarter last year – an increase from $1.6 million to $16.4 million.
So you can understand why Droneshield shares have been such enthusiastic winners in recent months.
But perhaps it's time for Droneshield shares to move over. There's another ASX defence stock that has also exploded in value in recent months. Time to check out the AML3D Ltd (ASX: AL3) share price.
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AL-who? Could this share be the next Droneshield?
AML3D is a defence company that uses 3D printing technology to enable the production of large-scale and diversified parts manufacturing.
The AML3D share price has also had a time to remember over the past few months. Back in early April, you could have picked up AML3D shares for just 5 cents each. But today, those same shares are going for 10 cents a pop, meaning AML3D had rocketed by 100% in just three months.
Over the past month alone, ALM3D shares are up 67%.
Excitement over AML3D began building in February this year, when the company revealed that its revenues for the half-year ended 31 December rose by a whopping 936% to $1.51 million. That was up from just $146,115 for the prior corresponding half in 2022.
Following that revelation, AML3D reported a new $350,000 contract with the Australian Government for a six-part nozzle assembly in May. This was followed by news of a $1.54 million order from the United States Department of Defence later that month.
Last month, the company announced that it had received another $1.12 million in the form of a grant from the South Australian Economic Recovery Fund in order to help develop AML3D's proprietary metal 3D printing technology.
Everything seems to be going AML3D's way lately. That brings us to today. This Tuesday, there has been another announcement out of AML3D. This one told investors that AML3D has booked a $1.1 million sale of its ARCEMY system to Laser Welding Solutions (LWS), a component supplier to the US Navy.
According to the company, "LWS has been operating this ARCEMY system under a lease agreement since September 20232 for a Nickel Aluminium Bronze… alloy qualification program for the US Navy".
This probably explains why the AML3D share price is up a healthy 4.17% so far today.
So a lot seems to be going right for AML3D shares in recent months. However, the company still has a long way to go if it is to emulate the extraordinary performance of Droneshield shares. Let's see if it can keep growing.
