Defence stock jumps 25% in a week on big update — Do you own it?

Shares of Apollo Micro Systems Limited surged nearly 25 per cent over the past week, supported by a key regulatory development and sustained investor interest in defence stocks.

The stock is currently trading at Rs 290.65, with a weekly gain of 24.92 per cent. The sharp rise comes after the company announced that it has received a licence from the Department for Promotion of Industry and Internal Trade (DPIIT), under the Ministry of Commerce and Industry, Government of India, to manufacture and proof test defence weapon systems.

Licence details and validity

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The licence was issued on April 10, 2026, under Section 43(1) of the Arms Act, 1959, and comes with lifetime validity. It allows the company to manufacture up to 1,000 units per category annually. The approval marks a significant expansion in the company’s defence manufacturing capabilities.

Under the licence, the company is authorised to manufacture a wide range of systems across two categories of arms of calibre above 12.7 mm at its Hyderabad facilities.

Category I systems

Category I includes guided weapons, underwater systems and countermeasures. This covers missiles across short, medium and long ranges for land, air and naval platforms, anti-tank guided missiles (ATGMs) including wire-guided, laser-guided and fire-and-forget variants, torpedoes for ship and submarine launch, and underwater mines. It also includes safety and arming mechanisms as well as chaffs, flares and decoy systems.

Category II systems

Category II includes aerial munitions and loitering systems. The company can manufacture aerial bombs, including general purpose, precision-guided and penetrator variants, as well as rockets for ground, air and naval launch. The licence also covers loitering munitions, which are autonomous strike systems with surveillance and precision strike capabilities.

Manufacturing will be carried out at the company’s two facilities located in Hyderabad, Telangana.

IDL Explosives capability support

The development is also supported by the capabilities of IDL Explosives Limited, a step-down subsidiary of Apollo Micro Systems. The subsidiary has expertise in industrial and defence-grade explosives, propellants, pyrotechnics, detonators and initiating systems.

IDL Explosives’ capabilities include solid propellants for missiles, rockets and torpedoes, explosive compositions for warheads and aerial bombs, and pyrotechnic compositions used in countermeasure systems. It also has capabilities in precision detonators, initiating systems and warhead design, from development to production.

The company said the integration of IDL Explosives’ energetics capabilities with its own expertise in guidance electronics, embedded systems and sensor integration will support end-to-end development and manufacturing of the licensed weapon systems.

Management comment and stock performance

Commenting on the development, Managing Director B Karunakar Reddy said, “This license is an important step in expanding the Company’s presence in the defence manufacturing sector. Together with the capabilities of IDL Explosives, we now have the building blocks to develop and manufacture a meaningful range of weapon systems for the Indian Armed Forces and for export. We will progress methodically, ensuring that our manufacturing infrastructure, quality systems and regulatory compliances are in place before we scale production.”

Apollo Micro Systems is a Hyderabad-based, publicly listed defence technology company, equipment manufacturer with capabilities across design, development, manufacturing, integration and lifecycle support of advanced weapon systems and defence platforms.

Apollo Micro Systems share price

The stock has seen strong momentum beyond the past week as well. It has gained 46.20 per cent over the last month and is up 142.53 per cent over the past year. The company’s market capitalisation stands at Rs 10,375.77 crore.

The stock remains sharply higher from its yearly low, gaining over 160 per cent, while it is still about 18 per cent below its 52-week high level.