Sydney, Jan 8, 2026, 17:15 AEDT — Market closed
DroneShield Ltd (ASX:DRO) shares ended down 1.0% at A$3.85 on Thursday after a filing showed JPMorgan Chase & Co. and its affiliates had ceased to be a “substantial holder” of the counter-drone technology firm. The stock swung between A$3.62 and A$3.92 and traded about 21 million shares; it is still up about 16% this week after an 18% jump on Tuesday. 1
Why this matters now: the register is back in focus while DroneShield works through a governance clean-up and investors try to pin down who is really holding the stock after a sharp run. In a Dec. 22 update, the company said it would tighten its securities trading and continuous disclosure policies and flagged an executive pay review, with an update planned in its next remuneration report in February 2026. 2
In Australia, an investor becomes a “substantial holder” when its voting power hits 5% or more, and it must disclose moves of at least 1 percentage point after that. A Form 605 is the notice used when a holder stops being substantial — in plain terms, it has slipped below 5%. 3
DroneShield also pushed out management news this week. It said on Jan. 6 it promoted Louis Gamarra to chief commercial officer, and CEO Oleg Vornik said “strong commercial leadership is critical to turning demand into sustained performance.” Gamarra said he was “honoured” to take the role. 4
On Wednesday, the company said it renewed support for the Australian Defence Force Drone Racing Team for 2026, calling it a collaboration aimed at skills and knowledge exchange in drone operations. Vornik said it was about “building the skills and technologies” that will shape the next generation of defence capability. 5
Late last month, DroneShield said it secured a $8.2 million contract, through a reseller, to supply handheld counter-drone systems and software updates to a western military end-customer. It said delivery was expected before end-2025 or in early Q1 2026, with payment expected in Q1 2026. 6
But there’s a catch with reading too much into big-holder disclosures: flows can be messy, and what looks like a clean exit can also reflect lending, hedging or client positioning. For the stock, a lull in contract news — or cash landing later than expected — is the cleaner downside risk, because moves have been fast and sentiment-driven.
