Revenue Soars 1065%! Palantir-Backed Drone Company Ondas Shares Surge 26%

Ondas Holdings dazzled the market with a quarterly earnings report that far exceeded expectations. The provider of AI-powered autonomous drone systems saw its shares jump more than 26% on Thursday, driven by a triple boost of revenue soaring more than tenfold year-over-year, a surge in backlog, and an upward revision of full-year performance guidance.

Ondas announced its first-quarter results before the U.S. market opened on Thursday, reporting revenue of $50.1 million, a 1065% year-over-year increase that vastly outperformed Wall Street's expectation of $39.4 million. The company subsequently raised its full-year revenue guidance from $375 million to $390 million, surpassing analysts' previous forecast of $379.1 million.

In terms of stock performance, Ondas closed about 27% higher at $11.21 on Thursday, following a 2% decline to $8.86 the previous day. Its strategic partner, Palantir, rose 2.8% on the same day.

Revenue Explosion and Backlog Surge Drive Guidance Upgrade

The strong revenue growth this quarter was primarily driven by broad-based strength across its business portfolio, with particularly outstanding performance in the counter-drone systems segment.

The company raised its full-year revenue guidance to $390 million. If achieved, this would represent approximately 670% growth compared to full-year 2025 revenue. The core basis for this upward revision is the significant expansion of the company's order backlog—which has reached $457 million as of now, a 569% surge from $68.3 million at the end of 2025.

Eric Brock, CEO of Ondas, stated in the earnings release, "We believe Ondas is well-positioned for the remainder of 2026 and beyond." He added, "Recent developments in the global landscape continue to highlight the urgency of accelerating the adoption of our solutions, further reinforcing our long-term thesis and validating the strategic actions we have taken to position the company for decades of growth."

Profitability Still Under Pressure, Peak Losses May Be Near

Despite the impressive revenue performance, Ondas remains some distance away from achieving profitability. Adjusted EBITDA loss for the first quarter was $10.9 million, widening from $7.5 million in the same period last year; operating expenses surged 470% to $67.3 million due to the impact of several acquisitions. However, this loss figure was significantly better than the $19.6 million loss expected by analysts (according to FactSet data).

Looking ahead to the second quarter, the company expects adjusted EBITDA losses to remain at elevated levels but stated that the second-quarter loss "is expected to represent a potential peak," after which conditions will gradually improve as revenue and gross profit grow and operational scale efficiencies are realized.

In terms of stock performance, Ondas has risen about 15% year-to-date, with a gain of 1209% over the past 12 months. However, the stock remains approximately 43% below its historical closing high of $19.50, set on December 23, 2019.

Strategic Support from Palantir Fuels Autonomous Systems Growth Engine

Ondas's partnership with Palantir adds significant endorsement to its business prospects. On March 11 this year, the two companies announced a strategic partnership to integrate Palantir's Foundry product into Ondas's global autonomous drone platform.

Headquartered in West Palm Beach, Florida, Ondas focuses on providing AI-driven autonomous drone systems. The company stated that future revenue growth will be primarily driven by its autonomous systems business.