Investing.com -- Shares in AeroVironment Inc (NASDAQ:AVAV) tumbled 7% on Tuesday as the California-based manufacturer of unmanned aircraft vehicles suffered steep profit and revenue declines over its last quarter, even after topping analysts' forecasts.
During the company's fourth quarter of 2016, which ended in late-April, AeroVironment reported earnings of $5.4 million or 0.23 per share, down from net profits of $7.1 million or 0.31 per share over the same period a year earlier. AeroVironment also saw its revenues slump 2% to $84.8 million, as sharp declines among its Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS) division slightly offset gains among its Efficient Energy Systems (EES) segment. Sales among AeroVironment's UAS division represent approximately 90% of the company's total core revenues.
Analysts expected to see losses of 0.07 per share on revenue of $85 million.
"(Our) international small UAS revenue grew significantly in fiscal 2016 and we expect it to remain a major contributor to fiscal 2017 revenue. We also made significant progress in developing the right solution for what we believe is a very large emerging market opportunity for commercial UAS applications, where early adopter customers are evaluating new hardware prototypes and pre-release software," said Wahid Nawabi, AeroVironment president and chief executive officer.
Moving forward, AeroVironment offered forward guidance of $260 to $280 million in revenue on earnings per share of 0.20 to 0.35 for Fiscal Year 2017. Analysts project sales of $285 million on per share earnings of 0.28.
"Our team maintained leading market positions in small UAS and Tactical Missile Systems for defense applications, and in electric vehicle charging and test solutions for commercial and consumer applications throughout 2016. We believe we are well positioned for long-term growth potential in our core and growth markets by staying focused on helping our customers proceed with certainty," Nawabi said.
Shares in AeroVironment slid 2.10 or 7.37% to 26.40 in after-hours trading.