AEVEX Denies Navy Halted Drone Boat Orders, Says GARC Contract Now ~$350M Through June 2027
AVEX is trading near its 52-week low of $9.64 (0.6% below the low) on elevated volume (7.7× avg).
Summary
AEVEX pushed back on two days of reports that the Navy stopped buying its GARC drone boats, calling them factually inaccurate. The company says it delivered all 325 GARC units in 2025, completing its contractual obligation, and that no further vessels were planned for procurement anyway. The existing GARC contract has been modified multiple times in 2026, lifting total value to roughly $350M and extending it through June 2027, with the Navy still funding upgrades and mine-countermeasure payloads now flying in the Strait of Hormuz. GARC vessels have logged more than 25,000 on-water hours, and AEVEX says the matters raised in the reports do not affect its Maritime Systems division or its financial performance. That directly contradicts the premise of the halt reports, which had hit a stock trading near its 52-week low of $9.64; shares fell 32.61% in the regular session to $9.68 before jumping 5.68% to $10.23 after hours. The rebuttal is company-sourced and unverified by the Navy, so the market may discount it until a government confirmation or the next contract award surfaces.
Updated with a Benzinga report · What changed
Updates
· Benzinga — AEVEX shares jumped 5.68% to $10.23 after hours, following a 32.61% regular-session drop to $9.68.
- GARC vessels have logged more than 25,000 on-water hours
- The matters raised in the reports do not affect AEVEX's Maritime Systems division or its financial performance
At the time of this announcement, AVEX was trading at $9.58 on NYSE in the Manufacturing sector, with a market capitalization of approximately $1.2B. The 52-week trading range was $9.64 to $42.34. This news item was assessed with positive market sentiment and an importance score of 7 out of 10. Source: BusinessWire.