ideaForge Shares Up 8% Amid Rally In Defence Stocks

Shares of drone manufacturer IdeaForge jumped as much as 8% to INR 599.60 during the early trading hours on the BSE today.

This comes amid Israel-Iran conflict driving investor interest in defence-linked companies. 

The stock opened at INR 550.10, lower than its previous close of INR 554.60, but quickly gained momentum. 

By 12:01 PM, the shares had trimmed some gains and were trading 5.75% higher at INR 586.65 on the BSE.

At the time, ideaForge’s market capitalisation stood at INR 2,541.27 Cr, with a trading volume of 14 Lakh shares.

Despite weakness in the broader market (Nifty 50 and Sensex were both down 0.7%), the Nifty India Defence Index was up 2.27%, making it one of the few sectoral gainers.

Defence stocks such as Hindustan Aeronautics (HAL), Bharat Dynamics (BDL), and Bharat Electronics (BEL) have jumped by 1% to 3% in today’s session. 

A combination of heightening geopolitical tensions (Israel-Iran conflict), expectations of increased defence spending, and a strong government policy push for indigenisation is believed to have driven the defence stock today. 

Adding to investor optimism, Defence Secretary Rajesh Kumar Singh recently stated that contracts worth around INR 2 Tn are expected to be signed in FY26, compared to INR 2.09 Tn in FY25.

Just few days ago, government has also set an ambitious targets for defence exports INR 35,000 Cr by 2025 and INR 50,000 Cr by 2028–29. 

To put things in perspective, the Ministry of Defence signed 193 contracts (the highest ever in a single year) worth INR 2,09,050 Cr in 2024–25. Of these, 177 contracts were awarded to the domestic industry, amounting to INR 1,68,922 Cr.

ideaForge Stock Surges Even as Losses Mount  

It is pertinent to note that investors have been actively bidding up shares for companies operating in airpower, missile systems and defence technology, especially after India’s launch of Operation Sindoor on May 7. 

Even ideaForge’s shares have surged 54.59% since the operation (based on the previous closing price). This is similar to what we have seen in another dronetech startup Droneacharya with 58.41% returns in the same time. 

However, over a broader time frame of six months and one year respectively, ideaForge has delivered negative returns of 8.28% and 16.99% at the current market price.

In terms of financials, the company reported its third consecutive loss-making quarter in Q4 FY25. ideaForge posted a consolidated net loss of INR 25.7 Cr during the quarter, marking a 7% increase from the INR 24 Cr loss reported in the previous quarter. In contrast, it had registered a net profit of INR 10.3 Cr in the year-ago quarter.

Despite a negative PE ratio of 132.83, the stock is trading at 3.87 times its book value.

On a year-on-year basis, operating revenue slumped 80% to INR 20.3 Cr in Q4 FY25. The management attributed the sharp decline in revenue to a slowdown in government orders, the same reason cited in the previous two loss-making quarters. 

ideaForge’s current order book comprises 96% civil contracts, while defence contracts accounting for the remaining 4%.

To counter the revenue decline, the company is now focusing on diversifying its offerings. It is transitioning from being a pure-play drone manufacturer to a drone solutions provider by introducing its cloud data analytics platform, Flyght Cloud and drone-as-a-service platform, Flyght Docks.

Further strengthening its portfolio, ideaForge recently unveiled new drone models Netra 5 and Switch V2, at the AeroIndia show held in February.