Volatus Aerospace posts 49% QoQ revenue rise as Mirabel facility opens
Volatus Aerospace (TSX: FLT) reported second-quarter 2026 revenue of C$8.4 million, up 49.5% on the prior quarter, as both its equipment and services divisions accelerated. Services grew 59% quarter-over-quarter and equipment 38%, bringing the revenue split to 57% services and 43% equipment, within the company's stated long-term target range.
Year-over-year comparisons were less flattering. Q2 revenue fell from C$10.6 million in Q2 2025, with management attributing roughly C$2.6 million of the shortfall to a single defence contract delayed by supply chain disruption. The company expects that contract to be fulfilled before year-end. Gross margin came in at 29.3%, down from 31.9% a year earlier, reflecting a higher proportion of lower-margin defence programme work in the mix.
Balance sheet and burn
The most headline-worthy figure is the cash position. Volatus exited June with C$59.2 million on hand, up from C$41.1 million at year-end 2025, after closing a C$34.5 million bought deal public offering in June. Working capital stood at C$63.8 million against a current ratio of 7.74, well above its covenant floor of 1.25. Total assets grew 28% to C$118.8 million in the first half of the year.
The balance sheet strength comes at a cost. Adjusted EBITDA loss widened to C$4.4 million in the quarter, versus a C$291,000 loss in Q2 2025, as operating expenses surged. Half-year operating costs reached C$17 million, up 48% from C$11.5 million in H1 2025, driven by personnel additions, marketing spend linked to the Mirabel launch and CANSEC 2026 trade show, and rising professional fees. Net loss for H1 was C$14.1 million.
Chief financial officer Abhinav Singhvi said the quarter marked "an important inflection point," citing the combination of the strengthened balance sheet, expanded manufacturing capability, and growing government and defence relationships as the basis for "a significant next phase of growth."
Market context and competitive positioning
The opening of Volatus's 53,000-square-foot manufacturing and systems integration facility at Montreal-Mirabel International Airport in June is operationally significant. Canada's federal government has signalled increased domestic defence investment as NATO allies ratchet up spending commitments, and the ability to demonstrate sovereign manufacturing capability is increasingly a prerequisite for Canadian government procurement. Volatus's multi-year training contract awarded to a NATO-allied government in April, and its participation in the Farnborough International Airshow as part of the Team Canada delegation in July, underline that positioning.
The company is also building a software revenue layer. Its SKYDRA counter-UAS SaaS platform and the V-Cortex AI flight controller and autonomy operating system, unveiled at CANSEC in May, are positioned as higher-margin recurring lines that could improve gross margin profile over time. Post-quarter, Volatus signed partnerships with Kraus Hamdani Aerospace on persistent intelligence capability and with Singular Aircraft for heavy-lift autonomous systems targeting Canadian wildfire response, both consistent with a push into larger, multi-year government programmes.
The commercial drone and autonomous systems market is increasingly contested, with established primes such as L3Harris and Elbit Systems competing alongside specialist uncrewed-systems vendors for allied-government budgets. For Volatus, the key near-term proof points will be converting pipeline into signed contracts, closing the delayed C$2.6 million defence delivery, and demonstrating that the Mirabel facility can sustain a manufacturing ramp without a proportional rise in overhead. With runway provided by the June equity raise, the company has time to execute, but the widening EBITDA loss underlines that the path to profitability remains a multi-quarter journey.