I just took one of my biggest positions ever in
$EOS.AX
Electro Optic Systems
Most people have never heard of this company. That's the point.
EOS is an Australian defense technology company that makes the world's only 100kW high energy laser weapons outside the US and Israel. ITAR-free. Full intellectual property ownership. They can export and tech-transfer to sovereign customers in ways that Raytheon, Lockheed, and Northrop Grumman literally cannot.
Every NATO country is staring at the same crisis right now.
A $500 FPV drone can destroy a $10M armored vehicle. The EU Commissioner for Defense called shooting down cheap drones with Patriot missiles "not sustainable." He's right. A single Patriot engagement costs $1,000,000 . A 30mm cannon round costs $50-200.
EOS's APOLLO laser system costs $1-10 in electricity per shot. Unlimited magazine when connected to external power. Neutralizes a drone in roughly 1.3 seconds at 50kW. Detection range over 12km.
They have never lost a single live-fire comparison test in company history. Not against Israel. Not against anyone. In the US Army's most watched C-UAS trial in April 2025, EOS won by a large margin. The British government then told its own domestic competitor to go seek a licensing deal with EOS.
The CEO is Dr. Andreas Schwer. PhD aerospace engineering. Former board member at Rheinmetall. Ran their Combat Systems Division across 16 countries with 7,000 staff. Then built Saudi Arabia's national defense champion SAMI from zero to a multi-billion dollar company. Took over EOS in August 2022 when the stock was under A$1.
His quote on competing with Rheinmetall's own laser program: "double the performance, half the price, half the time."
75% of his compensation is performance-based equity. Options only vest if EOS outperforms the ASX 200 by 200%. He doesn't make money unless long term shareholders make serious money first.
Now the numbers.
When Schwer took over mid-2022: stock A$0.80, market cap A$120M, order book A$50M, gross margins ~30%, toxic debt on the balance sheet.
Today: stock A$9.78, market cap ~A$1.89B,
unconditional backlog A$459M ( 818%), gross margins 63%. Repaid all toxic debt, replaced with A$100M strategic growth facility to fund the MARSS acquisition and production ramp. A$128M cash.
FY2026 revenue guidance A$180-230M, up 40-79% from last year.
The backlog tells the real story. Netherlands ~A$125M laser contract, world's first 100kW export deal ever.
LAND 400-3 RWS A$108M. General Dynamics Abrams integration US$22M. North American C-UAS US$21M. GCC Middle East orders. First ever India sale just announced March 2, a naval R800 RWS with potential for 130 systems to follow. Total pipeline A$10B . Active conversations with basically every NATO member.
On that Abrams contract. Schwer said on the earnings call it is "only the very first slice of something which will become very, very big, up to $3 billion over 15 years." The street is pricing it as a one-off $22M order. It is a platform lock-in on America's main battle tank.
Three things the market is not pricing in at all.
The 300kW laser. Fully customer-funded development, meaning zero dilution to shareholders for R&D. At 300kW the system moves from counter-drone into counter-rocket, artillery, and mortar. TAM expands 10x overnight. EOS has stated plans for up to 100 system capacity. At roughly A$100M per system that is A$10B in laser revenue potential from a single product line.
Space warfare. EOS was founded as a partner to Reagan's Star Wars SDI program. They can blind, damage, or destroy adversary satellites from the ground. The only company outside the US that can offer this. The US Golden Dome program is $175B. Europe is increasingly focused on space control. The market values this at exactly zero.
MARSS acquisition closing mid-2026. Transforms EOS from component supplier into full prime contractor. Pre-MARSS they supplied subsystems at A$1-5M per unit. Post-MARSS they bid on turnkey integrated C-UAS programs at A$20-100M per program. Completely different margin and revenue profile.
The valuation gap is embarrassing.
DroneShield does soft-kill RF jamming. Trades at A$3.3B on A$217M revenue. Soft-kill is becoming less effective as military drones get hardened against electronic warfare.
EOS does hard-kill lasers, kinetic RWS, space warfare, and full-stack C-UAS integration. 63% gross margins vs DroneShield's ~50%. 3.6x backlog-to-revenue vs DroneShield's ~1x. Monopoly laser technology. Trades at A$1.89B. Trading at roughly half the market cap of an inferior technology with less backlog and lower margins.
Now the price targets.
Simple re-rating to DroneShield's revenue multiple on FY2026 guidance implies A$17-19/share. 74-94% upside just to reach fair value relative to a worse business in the same sector.
Base case DCF: A$16/share end of 2026. A$20/share end of 2027. Over 100% upside on conservative assumptions with no new contracts required.
Bull case: A$32/share by end of 2027. 227% from current levels as laser contract cadence accelerates and European listing re-rating kicks in.
If management hits every target they laid out, 300kW signs, Abrams ramp accelerates, European listing happens, and MARSS wins prime contracts: A$60/share. Over 500% from here.
Sum of parts on current contracts alone, before any optionality, values the business at A$11-15/share today. The stock is trading below what the existing backlog already justifies.
The EU is mobilizing €800B in defense spending over 5 years. The Drone Wall targeting initial operational capability end of 2026 needs exactly what EOS builds. ITAR-free means European sovereignty mandates actively favor them over every US supplier. They are the only game in town for a continent that watched Ukraine prove drones change everything.
CEO Schwer told Reuters in January 2026 that a European listing is "very likely" within a year. Frankfurt or Amsterdam means European defense ETFs, institutional mandates, and an entirely new investor base discovering this for the first time. That re-rating alone is 25-50% on top of everything else.
Stock went from A$0.80 to A$9.78 since Schwer took over. Backlog up 818%. Gross margins more than doubled. Toxic debt gone. Netherlands laser contract converting. India just opened. Abrams is just the first slice. 300kW is coming. European listing is coming.
Nobody in the US knows this company exists yet.