AEVEX revenue nearly doubles, plans $650M acquisition

AEVEX Corp. reported second quarter 2026 revenue of $201.8 million, nearly double the $101.1 million it posted a year earlier, and swung to a net profit of $6.7 million after losing $11.8 million in the same period last year.

The Solana Beach, California-based defense technology company also disclosed a definitive agreement to acquire BlackSea Technologies, a maritime autonomous systems maker, in a deal worth up to $650 million. AEVEX will pay approximately $250 million in cash and roughly $350 million in AEVEX Class A common stock priced at $27.50 per share, or about 12.7 million shares, on a cash-free, debt-free basis, with up to $50 million more available through performance-based earnout payments. The acquisition is expected to close in September 2026.

Roger Wells, AEVEX’s chief executive officer, credited the quarter’s growth to demand across the company’s autonomous systems business.

“Our second-quarter results reflect the scale, momentum, and customer demand we’re seeing across our autonomous systems portfolio. Near triple-digit revenue growth, continued margin expansion, and strong execution across the business highlight the operational tempo our teams are delivering for customers,” said Wells.

Wells also addressed the BlackSea deal directly.

“The announced acquisition of BlackSea is expected to further strengthen our position in a rapidly expanding market and reflects the disciplined capital deployment that underpins our strategy to build one of the most capable pure-play autonomous systems providers in the industry,” said Wells.

BlackSea operates a 57,000-square-foot production facility in Baltimore with deepwater access and robotic welding capability, with capacity to build approximately 40 unmanned surface vessels per month. The company is expected to generate about $150 million in fiscal 2026 revenue. AEVEX said it plans to integrate its CompassX autonomy software with certain BlackSea maritime platforms, aiming to coordinate air and maritime systems and support navigation in GPS-denied environments. Combined, the two companies would offer autonomous systems spanning Group I through V unmanned aircraft, unmanned surface vessels, unmanned underwater vehicles, contested logistics vessels, long-range intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms, and deployable additive manufacturing.

Most of AEVEX’s quarterly revenue growth came from its Tactical Systems segment, which includes unmanned aircraft systems products and support services. That segment’s revenue rose to $174.2 million from $72.1 million a year earlier, an increase of 141.6%, driven largely by the EUCOM AOR Deep Strike program, which alone contributed $72.2 million. Tactical Systems Adjusted EBITDA climbed to $29.6 million from $2.9 million. AEVEX’s Global Solutions segment, which covers aircraft modifications and testing, saw revenue decline slightly to $27.6 million from $29 million, though its Adjusted EBITDA still rose to $3.9 million from $2.2 million on lower operating costs.

AEVEX reported total Adjusted EBITDA of $28.1 million for the quarter, up from $3.6 million a year earlier, with an Adjusted EBITDA margin of 13.9% compared with 3.6% in the prior-year period.

The company disclosed several new contract awards during the quarter, including an $18.5 million contract for unmanned aircraft systems and engineering services with the U.S. Air Force, a combined $15.6 million in mission-support contracts also with the Air Force, a $15.2 million option-year award to continue providing real-time aerial intelligence for California’s FIRIS wildfire detection program, and a $50 million contract for advanced unmanned mission capabilities with the Air Force.

AEVEX’s funded backlog stood at $259.8 million as of June 30, 2026, down from $503.1 million at the end of 2025. The company attributed most of that $243.3 million decline to revenue recognized from the Deep Strike program during the first half of the year, along with a shift toward shorter-cycle customer orders. AEVEX said it expects to convert about 95.1% of its current backlog into revenue over the next 12 months.

Todd Booth, AEVEX’s chief financial officer, said the quarter reflected consistent execution across both of the company’s business segments.

“In the second quarter, AEVEX delivered balanced performance across both Tactical Systems and Global Solutions and continued our disciplined approach to deploying capital. These results reflect disciplined execution, strong backlog conversion, and sustained demand supporting visibility as we move through the remainder of the year,” said Booth.

AEVEX completed its initial public offering during the first half of 2026, raising $345.9 million in net proceeds, and later raised an additional $148.8 million through a secondary offering. The company ended the quarter with $215.2 million in cash and cash equivalents, up from $27.9 million at the end of 2025. Total long-term debt fell to $96.6 million from $255.8 million over the same period, following a $259.1 million debt repayment during the first half of the year.

The company raised its full-year 2026 outlook to a revenue range of $700 million to $720 million and Adjusted EBITDA of $105 million to $111.5 million, figures that exclude any contribution from the pending BlackSea acquisition.