Red Cat Misses the Cut in Pentagon's Latest Drone Dominance Round (CORRECTED)

Editor’s Note: This article has been corrected to reflect Ondas Inc.’s participation in the Gauntlet program and XTEND’s public listing. The Pentagon’s Gauntlet II results are posted, and the scoreboard belongs almost entirely to private companies. RCAT stock is moving lower. See the real-time price action here. Nineteen companies flew 23 platforms across 1,858 sorties at Fort Carson, Colorado, in August, running find-fix-finish missions at 15-kilometer stand-off ranges and inside confined spaces, some of it repeated at night and against counter-drone systems. Each mission area produced a top five. Neros placed on both, so nine companies hold the 10 spots. Perennial Autonomy topped the Deep Strike competition with 80.1 points, ahead of Hyperscale at 70.9, Neros at 69.8, Skycutter at 66.6 and Swarm Defense Technologies at 66.0. Neros won the Close Quarters Battle with 88.1, followed by ORQA US, XTEND, Vector and ModalAI. Order quantities stay blank until contract award, and the program warns awards are not guaranteed. Only one of the nine finalists trades publicly. XTEND AI Robotics (NYSE:XTND) began trading Sept. 4 after completing its business combination with JFB Construction Holdings, and finished third in Close Quarters Battle. The rest are private, leaving read-throughs for the remainder of the board. Read Also: Jim Cramer Flags 'Boatload' of Bullish Option Buying in Micron, SanDisk, Intel The Public Names That Missed Teal Drones Inc., a subsidiary of Red Cat Holdings, Inc. (NASDAQ:RCAT), competed in the Close Quarters competition at Gauntlet II and did not place in the top five. Neither American Robotics nor any other Ondas Inc. (NASDAQ:ONDS) subsidiary was among the 19 companies that flew at Fort Carson, though its newly acquired DZYNE Technologies competed in Gauntlet I under prior ownership. Both companies remain eligible for future Gauntlets, per the program’s regulations. Red Cat shares changed hands at $6.88, down 3.10% Friday morning and 24.4% since Aug. 25, just before Gauntlet II testing wrapped. The stock sits 63.4% below its 52-week high, with a market value of $1.05 billion, according Benzinga Pro data. Ondas traded at $7.30, off 1.26% on the day and 11.4% over the same stretch, valuing the company at $4.16 billion. See More: Top Momentum Stocks Where the Upside Hides Component suppliers offer the cleanest exposure to winners nobody can buy. Unusual Machines, Inc. (AMEX:UMAC) makes drone parts, counts Donald Trump Jr. as an advisor, and has invested $27.5 million in XTEND, including an additional $20 million announced this month — giving it direct exposure to a Gauntlet II top-five finisher. The Trump administration has held talks about funding both Unusual Machines and Sequoia Capital-backed Neros, with proposals involving a mix of debt and equity that could hand the government ownership stakes. Shares of UMAC traded at $23.11 on Friday, down 3.25%. Larger defense names moved with the sector during May’s funding headlines, including Kratos Defense & Security Solutions, Inc. (NASDAQ:KTOS) and AeroVironment, Inc. (NASDAQ:AVAV), which rose alongside peers in the Spring, should also be monitored this round. Read Also: These 10 Stocks Are Squeeze Candidates Waiting to Happen Photo: Pavlow / Shutterstock