Azzet reports on three stocks with price moving updates today.
Droneshield rallies on broker upgrade ~
Shares in Droneshield (ASX: DRO) were up 6.7% by 2:10 pm AEDT (3:10 am GMT) after broker Bell Potter analysts predicted 2026 to be “the year of the drone” and raised its price target on the stock by 13% to $5.
But given that Droneshield is the ASX’s 11th most short-sold stock, savvy investors have become accustomed to volatile swings in the share price – and sometimes for no apparent reason.
Yesterday, Droneshield was the worst performer on the ASX 200, declining 8.86% to $4.32.
The $5 price target also appears a little underwhelming, given that the stock was trading well over $6 a share last October.
Admittedly, the stock is trading around 50% higher year to date; however, there’s clearly still an overhang on the company that relates to former antics of management.
What the likes of Bell Potter are really saying is that some of this overhang is now unwarranted, given that the fundamentals in the stock remain unchanged.
Were the fundamentals in the stock to change, it would be a different story, and the broker’s limited upgrade suggests that investors still need to be wary.
However, a modest 13% upgrade on Droneshield by Bell Potter looks at whether the broker is simply playing footsies with the market.
The broker believes the key driver of the Droneshield share price this year is potential awards likely to surface from the U.S. public safety market – this isn’t a revelation.
The broker points to the US$250 million (A$370 million) allocated for counter-unmanned aircraft systems to states hosting the FIFA World Cup and the America 250 events.
“We would be disappointed if DroneShield did not receive material awards from these events,” said Bell Potter analyst Baxter Kirk.
“We revise EPS higher by +4%/+8%/+3% across CY25-27e reflecting: lower diluted shares assumptions; higher tax rate; higher opex with DRO accelerating headcount ahead of expectations; and +5%/+5% higher revenue in CY26/27e due to the enactment of the Safer Skies Act.”
Overall, the broker expects Droneshield to win material contracts flowing from its $2.5 billion potential sales pipeline over the next 3-6 months as defence budgets roll over to FY26.
While Droneshield trades at a 34% discount to the global drone peer group, the broker sees upside risk to its revenue forecasts in CY26/27, especially given the opportunities observed in the soft-kill C-UAS industry.
Meanwhile, yesterday Droneshield announced the release of its Q1 2026 software updates across the DroneSentry-C2, DroneSentry-C2 Enterprise, and RfPatrol-Plugin, alongside firmware updates for detection and disruption devices.
Droneshield has a market cap of $4.2 billion; the share price is up 614% in one year and up 65% in the last month.
The stock appears to be in a strong bullish trend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
IperionX jumps in US defence-linked order
Shares in IperionX (ASX: IPX) were trading up 5.8% after the American producer of titanium alloys, titanium products, and critical minerals announced a major U.S. defence-linked order that reaffirmed investors' confidence in the company’s long-term defence strategy.
While the prototype purchase order valued at US$300,000 from American Rheinmetall is relatively small, what excited that market is the potential for it lead to a significantly larger agreement if the prototype work is delivered successfully.
The initial purchase order will see IperionX produce 700 lightweight titanium components for U.S. Army heavy ground combat vehicles in the U.S. using 100% recycled titanium feedstock.
Management told the market today that production will deploy IperionX's patented hydrogen-assisted metal technologies - designed to deliver high-performance titanium - at lower cost and with lower emissions than conventional methods.
Management also told the market that the order supports U.S. priorities to reshore critical materials supply chains, reduce reliance on foreign titanium, and expand domestic manufacturing using recycled feedstocks.
It’s understood that replacing steel parts with titanium will cut component weight by 40-45%, saving several hundred kilograms per vehicle and improving acceleration, agility, operational range, survivability, and traction on soft terrain.
Titanium is designated as a strategic and critical material by the U.S. government, and IperionX is currently the only domestic U.S. producer of commercial-scale primary titanium, a material designated strategic and critical by the U.S. government.
CEO Anastasios Arima believes today’s purchase order demonstrates the application of IperionX's recycled titanium technologies on key U.S. ground combat platforms.
He also highlighted the company's positioning as a secure, low-carbon, US-based supplier.
While IperionX has been bouncing higher since trading at a low of $4.30 late November, the stock is still struggling to regain the most recent peak of $9.21 it hit a month earlier.
IperionX has a market cap of $2.5 billion; the share price is up 85% in one year and up 52% in the last month.
The stock appears to be in a strong bullish trend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus is Strong Buy.
Gibb River Diamonds tanked on disappointing operational update
Shares in Gibb River Diamonds (ASX: GIB) were trading 18.3% lower following the diamond and gold miner’s operational update, revealing that gold grade outcomes at its Neta Gold Mine - at the Three Mile Hill facility near Coolgardie - were below expectations.
While mining at the Neta pit is now finished, a total of 33,528 dry metric tonnes of blended ore was processed, with recovered gold estimated at 1,377 ounces of Au in doré bars (unreconciled).
The doré bars have been shipped to the gold refinery, and final refined gold production will be reported when available.
The final Gold-in-Circuit (GIC) reconciliation for the Three Mile Hill campaign is pending, which may result in a variation to the final gold production. Recoveries from the Three Mile Hill campaign are reported as 90.9% (unreconciled).
At the Lakewood plant, processing is ongoing, with around 70,520 tonnes treated out of 99,110 tonnes trucked, three gold pours producing an estimated 2,841 ounces and initial gold sales exceeding $7.5 million at strong realised prices.
Meanwhile, a low-grade stockpile remains at Neta and is anticipated to be processed in due course.
There are no forward sales locked in for this mining operation, and all production is being sold into the spot gold market.
Management expects the Lakewood milling campaign to be completed by late January 2026 and expects the first cash proceeds by February/March 2026.
Further highly prospective gold targets are also expected to commence at the Edjudina Project on mining lease M31/481, once initial JV cash distributions to the miner have been made.
To the uninitiated, Gibb River Diamonds is an Australian resources company listed on the ASX that has diversified into gold, advancing the Edjudina Gold Project in WA through mining and toll treatment campaigns.
The miner focuses on extracting and monetising gold ore via third-party processing facilities while retaining exploration upside on its tenements and is producing from Neta together with private mining contractor BML Ventures Pty Ltd (BML).
The miner’s share price has rallied strongly since mid-December on its ability to transition from explorer to producer, specifically at its Edjudina Gold Project, while maintaining its flagship diamond and uranium assets.
Meanwhile, the miner continues to progress environmental clearance for its strategic uranium prospects in the Erongo and Kunene districts of Namibia.
In the NT, the miner maintains 100% ownership of the Highland Plains Phosphate Project, which has an inferred resource of 53 million tonnes.
In WA, the miner holds a 20% free-carry interest in the Iroquois project, which is currently being managed by Strickland Metals (ASX: STK).
Gibb River Diamonds has a market cap of $12.4 million; the share price is down 8% year to date.
The stock appears to be in a strong bullish trend, confirmed by multiple indicators.
Consensus does not cover this stock.
This article does not constitute financial or product advice. You should consider independent advice before making financial decisions.
