Is Draganfly Inc. (DPRO) Among the Worst Performing Defense Stocks So Far in 2025?
US defense stocks have wobbled this year, amid concerns about government budget cuts. In February, President Trump hinted at significantly reducing future military spending if things settle down with China and Russia. The creation of DOGE has also reshaped investors' views of the industry.
READ ALSO: 10 Best Performing Defense Stocks So Far in 2025 and 13 Best Defense Stocks to Buy According to Billionaires.
Elsewhere, particularly in Europe, stocks have soared this year, with governments unlocking billions to supercharge their militaries. EU leaders met in Brussels in March to discuss the 'ReArm Europe Plan', which will allow the bloc to mobilize funds up to $860 million through bonds and relaxed rules on borrowing and spending.
Despite a shaky start to 2025, analysts at UBS are hopeful about America's defense sector and believe the downside is shrinking and the FY26 budget request would present a better visibility into long-term expenditure plans. Here is what the firm recently stated:
'Consensus estimates have moved higher since the election despite the 40% sell-off. The downside potential seems increasingly smaller. We believe that the current environment is markedly different from Sequestration and do not believe a similar outcome is likely.'
Citi analyst Jason Gursky is also urging investors that this is the right time to buy American defense stocks.
'We recognize the world order is evolving under the current President, perhaps to a multi-polar one in which three countries control spheres of influence over the Americas, Europe and Asia. However, we don't view that world to be any less dangerous or one that decreases the need to acquire the tools of deterrence.'
Gursky argues that as long as the global threat environment remains and the United States maintains its leadership role, regardless of whether it is as a sole superpower or as a power in a multipolar world order, defense spending is expected to remain robust, which would benefit stocks in the sector.
Gursky argues that as long as the global threat environment remains and the United States maintains its leadership role, regardless of whether it is as a sole superpower or as a power in a multipolar world order, defense spending is expected to remain robust, which would benefit stocks in the sector.
A stock image of a colorful array of unmanned aerial vehicles flying up towards the sky.
For this article, we went through screeners to identify stocks in the aerospace and defense industry. From there, we picked the top 10 stocks with the worst year-to-date negative returns in share price, as of the close of business on March 26, 2025. Pure-play aerospace stocks that do not deal in defense contracts have been excluded from the list. The stocks are ranked according to their share price decline.
Why are we interested in the stocks that hedge funds pile into? The reason is simple: our research has shown that we can outperform the market by imitating the top stock picks of the best hedge funds. Our quarterly newsletter's strategy selects 14 small-cap and large-cap stocks every quarter and has returned 373.4% since May 2014, beating its benchmark by 218 percentage points (see more details here).
YTD Decline in Share Price: -23.69%
Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ:DPRO) develops cutting-edge unmanned and remote data collection and analysis platforms and systems. It is one of the worst performing stocks in 2025, with a 23.69% decline in its share price this year.
During its Q4 2024 earnings call, Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ:DPRO) reported a modest increase of 0.1% in its revenue for FY24 as its capacity to meet military and public safety demand did not come to full stream until late Q3. Gross profit also decreased by 32.3% from the prior year. The gross margin stood at 21.3%, compared to 31.5% in 2023.
Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ:DPRO) recorded a net loss of $14.06 million for the full year. While this was an improvement from last year, the company is not expected to achieve profitability until 2026. Cash used in operating activities was down 37% year over year. It ended the year with a cash balance of a little over $6.25 million.
The company has recently appointed former Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense, Chris Miller, to its Board of Directors. As a seasoned national security expert, Miller is expected to guide Draganfly Inc. (NASDAQ:DPRO)'s strategic initiatives in the government and defense sectors.
In March, the company also announced the opening of its new facility in Tampa, Florida, to strengthen national security and defense partnerships. It is strategically located close to major government and military clients and includes a live fire testing facility.
Overall, DPRO ranks 10th among the worst performing defense stocks so far in 2025. While we acknowledge the potential of defense companies, our conviction lies in the belief that AI stocks hold greater promise for delivering higher returns, and doing so within a shorter time frame. If you are looking for an AI stock that is more promising than DPRO but that trades at less than 5 times its earnings, check out our report about the cheapest AI stock.
READ NEXT: 20 Best AI Stocks To Buy Now and 30 Best Stocks to Buy Now According to Billionaires
Disclosure: None. This article is originally published at Insider Monkey.
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Gold price history and historical prices (1915-2025)
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But other times a dismal showing has stretched for many years. The period from 1980 to 2000 saw the price of gold stagnate, though there were occasions where it rose briefly. The price of gold was fixed under the gold standard for many years, so a chart shows prices flatlining for long periods of time, until the price of gold was periodically adjusted. But that changed for the U.S. in August 1971, when U.S. President Richard Nixon canceled the convertibility of the U.S. dollar into gold, allowing the price of gold to float freely on the market. Gold is well known as a defensive investment, and its price rises when investors anticipate economic hardship or even crisis ahead. So the price of gold may be something of a bellwether for the economy, or at least express the negative sentiments of some investors. Gold price since 1915 Since 1915, the price of gold has been 'up and to the right,' but not without plenty of ups and downs along the way. But as the first half of the chart above shows, there weren't many ups and downs between 1915 and 1971, as gold was convertible at a fixed rate into fiat currency. For example, from 1915 to the early 1930s, gold was priced around $20 per ounce. Then in the mid-1930s, gold was priced at $35, which was effectively its reference price for three more decades. The U.S. left the gold standard in April 1933, when newly elected President Franklin Roosevelt formally suspended the standard. However, the establishment of the Bretton Woods monetary system in the 1940s brought back a limited form of the standard. As part of that agreement, the U.S. dollar was set up as the world's reserve currency and countries settled their accounts in dollars. At the same time, the U.S. agreed to convert dollars to gold at a fixed rate of $35. In August 1971, President Nixon officially ended the convertibility of the dollar into gold, and gold began to trade at market-determined prices. Following this event, the world's major economies eventually moved to fiat currencies that freely floated on international exchanges. LEARN MORE: How to invest in gold: 5 ways to buy and sell it Gold prices in the 1970s The Nixon shock of August 1971 — including ending the convertibility of the dollar into gold and instituting freezes on prices and wages — helped kick off what was a tumultuous decade for the economy, but a very good one for gold investors. Oil crises in 1973 and 1979 also helped put their own economic strains on the U.S. It wasn't long after Nixon ended the dollar's convertibility that gold prices began to boom. Prices zoomed into the high $40s by early 1972, then approached $70 by midyear — effectively doubling from just a year prior. By late 1973, the U.S. was entering a recession, and while the slowdown nominally lasted until early 1975, the stagflationary effects — a period of low growth in output and high inflation — characterized the decade. 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