XTI Aerospace posted $22.5 million in Q4 2025 revenue and $121.6 million in pro forma full-year revenue after folding in Drone Nerds, the U.S. drone retail and solutions business it acquired in November 2025. The company is guiding for at least $160 million in revenue for 2026 — a 32% increase on the pro forma base.
The numbers are messy in the way post-acquisition financials always are. On a straight GAAP basis, XTI lost $68.5 million for the full year. The pro forma figure — which treats Drone Nerds as if it had been owned all year — narrows that to a $39.0 million net loss from continuing operations. Gross margin came in at 22% on the pro forma combined basis, which is thin but not unusual for a business built largely on drone hardware distribution.
What XTI Actually Is Now
The Drone Nerds deal effectively transformed XTI from a struggling eVTOL developer into a drone platform company with real revenue. The original aircraft division has been rebranded as Autonomous Defense Systems (ADS), and a new Advanced Technology and Manufacturing (ATM) division is being stood up to pursue NDAA-compliant supply chain contracts — the segment of the market where U.S.-manufactured drones command a significant price premium over Chinese alternatives.
Unusual Machines, which has been building its own NDAA-compliant drone manufacturing story, put $25 million into XTI as part of the Drone Nerds transaction. That investment came with a strategic alliance with Valkyrie Sciences to commercialise data generated through Drone Nerds’ customer base. A $20 million JPMorgan asset-based lending facility and $7.7 million in warrant proceeds round out the recent liquidity moves.
Whether $160M Is Achievable
The 2026 target requires XTI to grow the combined business by roughly $38 million over a pro forma base that includes a full year of Drone Nerds. That growth has to come from somewhere — and the company is betting on three levers: scaling the retail drone business, winning NDAA-focused enterprise and government contracts through the ATM division, and monetising the Drone Nerds data asset through the Valkyrie Sciences partnership.
The NDAA angle is the most credible near-term opportunity. Federal procurement of U.S.-made drones is accelerating, and Drone Nerds has existing relationships with enterprise and public safety buyers. The data intelligence play is speculative at this stage.
XTI reports full Q1 2026 results in the coming months. How quickly the ATM division converts pipeline into contract revenue will determine whether the $160 million target is a stretch goal or a floor.
