Ondas Acquires Drone Developer American Robotics For $70.6M, Reports Q1 Earnings - Ondas Holdings (NASDAQ:ONDS)

Proprietary software-based wireless broadband technology developer Ondas Holdings Inc ONDS inked an agreement to acquire fully-automated commercial drone system developer American Robotics for $70.6 million.
The deal will be financed via a mixture of cash and equity securities. Ondas had extended a loan of $2 million to American Robotics on Apr. 22, 2021.
FAA has only approved American Robotics to operate its drones beyond-visual-line-of-sight (BVLOS) without a human operator on the ground.
This acquisition will integrate the technology platforms of the two companies and increase automation, data collection, and AI-powered analytics in industrial markets.
The drone is the ultimate data-gathering edge device for mission-critical operations, solving a huge pain-point for Ondas' industrial and government customers and ecosystem partners, Ondas Chair and CEO Eric Brock said. American Robotics' full-stack IP portfolio is a complete system enabling Ondas to turn these pain-points into growth opportunities fueled by more rich data collection, Brock added.
American Robotics CEO Reese Mozer saw substantial customer demand and was ready to deliver systems across an impressive pipeline of blue-chip industrial customers in addition to new customer relationships via Ondas.
Ondas held $24 million in cash and equivalents as of Mar. 31, 2020.
Separately, Ondas reported first-quarter FY21 revenue growth of 482% year-on-year to $1.165 million, beating the analyst consensus of $1.21 million.
The gross margin expanded 4,280 basis points to 52.3%.
Operating loss rose 23.6% Y/Y to $(2.9) million, and net loss rose 11.8% Y/Y to $(3.1) million.
EPS loss of $(0.12) missed the analyst consensus of $(0.10) loss.
The company used $3.1 million in operating cash flow.
Guidance: Ondas sees a Q2 revenue outlook of $1 million - $1.5 million, below the analyst consensus of $2.36 million.
Price action: ONDS shares traded higher by 14.2% at $6.95 on the last check Monday.

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