Palmer Luckey

Money Moves

Preparing Anduril for potential IPO at ~$60 billion valuation

AEVEX Aerospace, a maker of military drones and airborne surveillance systems, began trading on the New York Stock Exchange on April 17, 2026, under the ticker AVEX—and its first day answered a key question about the defense tech IPO wave. Shares opened at $23.01 and closed at $26.93, a 34.7% gain that pushed its market capitalization to roughly $3 billion, well above the $2.35 billion valuation at pricing. The company had raised $320 million by pricing 16 million shares at $20 each, and the offering was multiple times oversubscribed. Private equity firm Madison Dearborn Partners retained 79% voting control. On its second day of trading, April 18, AEVEX shares held near that level, trading in a $23 to $27.96 range as institutional positioning stabilized. AEVEX was not the only defense company testing public market appetite that week or in the months prior: satellite maker York Space Systems raised $629 million in a January 2026 NYSE debut, components maker Arxis raised $1.13 billion on April 16 and held its gains near $38 in subsequent trading, Ukrainian drone software company Swarmer jumped more than 500% on its March 17 Nasdaq listing, and signals intelligence firm HawkEye 360 had filed its own IPO prospectus days before AEVEX's debut.

Updated Apr 19

Money Moves

Active leadership; public face of the company

Anduril Industries is seeking $8 billion in new funding at a valuation exceeding $60 billion—nearly double its $30.5 billion valuation from eight months ago. The defense technology firm, founded by Oculus creator Palmer Luckey in 2017, has become the fastest-growing challenger to legacy contractors like Lockheed Martin and Boeing, winning Pentagon contracts for autonomous fighter jets and drone defense systems.

Updated Feb 15