A class action filed in federal court accuses AeroVironment of misleading investors about a Space Force contract, and shareholders who want to run the case have until July 27, 2026 to ask the court for the job.
Bleichmar Fonti & Auld LLP announced the suit on July 14. It names AeroVironment (NASDAQ: AVAV) and certain senior executives, and sits in the U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia as Norrell v. AeroVironment, et al., No. 26-cv-01429. The claims arise under Sections 10(b) and 20(a) of the Securities Exchange Act of 1934.
The contract at the center
The dispute turns on the Space Force’s SCAR program. BlueHalo won a $1.4 billion contract to supply BADGER phased array antenna systems for it, and AeroVironment bought BlueHalo in May 2025.
The complaint says the company kept talking the contract up. It called SCAR a “tremendous growth opportunity,” said its work was “very much on track,” said the customer was “asking for more” and said it stood “ready to build more.” In truth, the suit alleges, AeroVironment faced a real chance of competition for the program and overstated the goodwill it booked from the BlueHalo deal.
How the stock fell
The shares dropped in steps. On January 20, 2026, the company announced the government had issued a stop work order on the BADGER agreement, and the price slid $61.97, or 15.77%, from $392.86 to $330.89.
On March 2, Space News reported that the Space Force was reopening SCAR to other suppliers. The stock fell $43.93, or 17.42%, to close at $208.32 from $284.24 at the open.
Eight days later, AeroVironment reported a third-quarter operating loss of $179.0 million against $3.1 million a year earlier, along with a $151.3 million goodwill impairment in its space division. The shares lost another $13.84, or 6.24%, falling from $221.57 to $207.73 by the next day.
The law firm says it is also looking at a June 22, 2026 announcement that financial statements in the company’s quarterly report for the period ended January 31, 2026 “require restatement and should no longer be relied upon.”
The firm says it works on contingency, so shareholders owe no fees or costs unless the court approves them.
