DroneShield

It's had a difficult year, but Regal's bet on the now $2 billion company has proved spectacularly successful as it looks headed for index inclusion.

Shares in the once popular defence stock are down 75% from their peak, with military spending cuts in the US and new fibre optic technology cited as factors.

The bruised market darling is setting a slow and steady path forward in the face of investor exuberance and media scrutiny over its bubbly market cap.

While the defence tech company has a compelling story to tell, it clearly looked wildly overvalued. And a Capital Brief story on short sellers willing to bet on that was enough to send its share price plummeting.

The defence tech play, favoured by retail traders, has become 10-bagger in just 12 months and is more valuable on paper than some big ASX names. But sceptical short-sellers are circling.

Australia’s hottest defence stock is capitalising on its soaring share price to raise fresh cash, but there are concerns it may have overshot its fundamentals.

One of the standout performers on the ASX so far this year makes technology being used to thwart deadly drone attacks in major conflict zones around the world.