Key Points
Aerovironment makes autonomous military drones but has branched out into other aspects of the autonomous robotics space.
Billionaires Cathie Wood, Ray Dalio, and John Overdeck have all taken recent positions in the company.
Autonomous vehicles and robotics are all the rage right now, but it's hard to know what stocks are most likely to succeed in this cutting-edge space. Certainly, Elon Musk's Tesla has made big headlines by announcing it's ending production of some electric-car models to repurpose its manufacturing facilities for making humanoid robots.
However, Wall Street insiders have been quietly buying up shares of a different company with experience in robotics and autonomous vehicle technology. That company is Aerovironment (NASDAQ: AVAV). And now that its stock is down by more than 30% from its 2025 high, more big investors may follow suit.
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Among the billionaire investors who've recently opened new positions in Aerovironment are John Overdeck and Ray Dalio. Overdeck's Two Sigma hedge fund picked up 27,327 shares of the autonomous systems maker for $8.6 million in its most recently reported quarter. Meanwhile, Dalio's Bridgewater Associates hedge fund also opened a new position in the stock, buying 11,349 shares for $3.6 million.
But the most recent moves came from legendary investor Cathie Wood. Two of her ARK Invest funds bought shares of Aerovironment on Monday. The ARK Space & Defense Innovation ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKX) took a $1.6 million position, while the ARK Autonomous Technology & Robotics ETF (NYSEMKT: ARKQ) bought $3.9 million in Aerovironment shares.
After receiving a stop-work order on a government contract for satellite antenna systems on Jan. 16, Aerovironment's shares gave up more than two-thirds of their year-to-date gains.
After the stock's 57% gain last year, some Wall Street insiders clearly see this pullback as a buying opportunity.
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John Bromels has positions in AeroVironment and Tesla. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends AeroVironment and Tesla. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy.
